Well That's Different
by Constant Cycle
Summary: Instead of meeting Old Man Zangetsu in his quest to regain his powers to regain his powers, Ichigo had stumbled across someone different. The Hollow Zangetsu. Now he sets off to save Rukia from her execution, but something bizarre is happening underneathe. Ichigo x Harem (Kinda) and only slight AU until chapter 11. (Hiatus for a bit, but not too long)
1. Back In Gray

Updated: 11/21/2018

What a beautiful day it was in the town of Karakura. There was not a cloud in the sky, the birds were tweeting, and the cicadas were chirping away as their usual summer routine. Nothing seemed to be wrong in the world. Boy, how little did the outside world know what was going on below the surface.

"AAAHHH!"

Well that's rather obnoxious. Just annoying for use to be interested I bet nonetheless. Let's go see what's all the ruckus is about.

Oh, well if it isn't our favorite orange haired teenage protagonist back at it again with his shenanigans. Looks like he's about to die. What's this like the third time this year?

 **Now to the actual story:**

Ichigo was experiencing the wildest rollercoaster of emotions he had ever experienced in his life as he watched the first few links at the end of his chain quite literally devoured themselves into oblivion. It was a grotesque and frightening sight as watched, powerless to the situation. His arms were sealed behind his back with some form of Kido preventing him from trying to stop the process.

At the top of the deep dark pit stood a tall man who wore a moldy avocado green haori. His eyes were overshadowed by his dry blonde hair and a striped green and white hat that did not fit his choice of clothing well at all. "The chains of fate that I cut off is starting to consume themselves," he called out. "This is the process of 'corrasion'."

Ichigo paid no attention to the words coming from the poorly dressed man at the top. All that was running through his mind was his intense will to survive. He quickly stood up from his knees and charged full speed into the dirt wall, smashing his chest into it having some form of hope that it would magically stop the process. "Damnit! Take it off!" shouted the teen. "Hurry up and take this disgusting thing off Kisuke!"

The green hatted man stood silent for a moment and shook his head. "No," he finally said, a dark and unsettling overtone in his voice. "If I try to stop it…" A sharp pain suddenly tore into the side of Ichigo's abdomen. "Even I will be consumed." He quickly fell over in both shock and pain only to see blood and flesh spewing out of the end of his chain. It was from his stomach. The moment his came into physical contact with the chain, literally ate him.

The teenager collapsed to the ground with a thud. A pool of blood took form underneath his laying body. His breaths became rapid. He was panicking because he knew that it was only a matter of time before he'd transform into a Hollow. A dark and cynical feeling began to take root in his despair. Once again, he could do nothing. Once again, he was nothing but a helpless child. "Shit," he gritted through his teeth as his body stiffened.

"Usually, after cutting the chain, entering this stage of the process would take months to years. However, at the bottom of the 'Hole of Despair', it's filled with a gas that will speed up the self-consuming process. When you're at the bottom, the time left until the end of the process…" his expression became dead as he looked down from his high position with a look of both pity and emptiness, "is at most seventy-two hours. In other words, you only have three days."

Ichigo glared at Kisuke with unadulterated rage. A new thought sweltered into his head that almost blocked out his searing pain. If he could survive through what the shitty shopkeeper was throwing at him, he swore to whatever being that was watching over him that he was going to kill Kisuke.

"Before your time runs out, please transform into a Shinigami when you climb out of the hole. If you don't, and you end up becoming a Hollow. We will have to destroy you." There was no emotion in the blonde hair's voice. Not an ounce of sympathy, or even worry. Just a cold and empty feeling.

"Asshole," Ichigo managed to iterate through his clenched teeth. "Are you trying to kill me?"

It was a rhetorical question but was still met with an answer from the man at the edge of the pit. "If you give up, then that is what I must do." With that everyone, except Tessai had left the boy to rot in the deep and miserable hole.

 **The Next Day:**

It was a mystery to Ichigo as to why he felt so exhausted. He hadn't done anything all day except lay face flat on the ground and watch as his soul quite literally at itself away. Hearing the sound of teeth gnawing at chain, Ichigo looked down to see yet another one of his links get eaten away. "That's the fifth one," he thought to himself. "Seems like it's only active for a few minutes before going back into dormancy for the next few hours."

Finally, Ichigo began to get some feeling in his body that wasn't complete agony. "When it's active, it becomes too painful." He then mustered all the strength he could as forced himself onto his feet once again. "Gah," he hissed as he managed to get himself up on his knees. "So I can only try this while they are sleeping."

Practically out of breath just through the effort of making himself stand up again, he stared tiredly at the wall keeping him trapped. He needed to get out, that was the only thing that was going through his mind. He couldn't let himself become a Hollow, not while he had to save Rukia. If he did, all this time and energy would have been for nothing.

Ichigo stared at the wall for a good few seconds before coming up with an idea. He positioned himself in a ready posture and charged at the wall at his top speed. "HAAAAAHHHHHH!" He ran with all his might, going as fast as he possibly could. Once he reached the wall, he dug his feet into the dirt, making an attempt to run up the wall. However, it was nothing more than an attempt. Managing to make it only nine feet at best before his foot slipped allowing gravity to take him down back to the bottom of the pit.

"AAAHH!" His scream was uncharacteristically girly as he fell with a loud thud. All of the people at the top heard this as they peered over the edge in curiosity.

"This guy is crazy," said a young, bright red haired boy by the name of Jinta. His expression was filled with that of annoyance. "With that method, he can't even climb three meters up this vertical wall."

"Oh, let me see." Said Kisuke in his typical carefree attitude.

Ururu said, "… Baka…"

 _(Thank you for that amazing contribution to the conversation, now back to the strawberry)_

Ichigo laid collapsed on the ground, panting heavily from his… effort to run up the side of a one hundred fifty foot wall. "Damnit," he said to himself, "so close."

"Oi!" called a voice from the top of the hole. This caught the orange hair's attention because either Kisuke had suddenly regressed to the age of twelve or it was finally someone else who was willing to talk to him. He turned his head to see a young red head staring back down at him from the top of the hole. "Are ya hungry?" Jinta's voice echoed down.

Despite there being no ill intent in the boy's words, for some odd reason the question just pissed him off, "How can I be hungry!" Ichigo yelled back. "I'm a soul right now! There's no such thing as hunger!"

A devilish grin quickly took form from the response. "That's good! Let me tell you something! If you feel hungry in your state, that's a dangerous sign." He paused. "That means you're turning into a Hollow."

This information hit Ichigo like a bus. It probably would have held more significance if it hadn't had been for the next comment. "But if your thirsty, then it's all right! You can just drink my drool!"

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" the teen yelled angrily at the boy's mischief.

"Oi, Ururu, do it too," he told the innocent girl to join in.

"Okay," she responded in her usual passive voice. They both made disgusting wads of spit and mucus and dangled from their mouths.

"What the actual fuck!?" Shouted Ichigo as the two kids drooled over the edge. "If you got the nerve to drool on me, why don't you come down here and see how you like my fist in your face!" The two ignored the threats as they continued their acts of villainy. One of the wads of spit fell next to Ichigo which caused him to panic. "Shit! The drool dripped down! Quit joking around! If you guys don't stop, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Meanwhile, as the two children continued to terrorize Ichigo, Kisuke stood on the sidelines looking up at the ceiling. "It should be dark by now." He flicked his fan open and began waving it in front of his face. "Darn, you can never tell the time in this room."

 **Many Seconds Later (Probably…):**

Ichigo continued to lay motionless at the bottom of the deep dark hole with his hands strapped behind his back. He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Damnit," he thought to himself, "I can't climb up." The orange haired teen looked up to the top of the pit. Questions began appearing in his head as he stared blankly up to the place he couldn't reach. "How long has it been?" he questioned. "I can't figure it out. What do I have to do to get out of here?"

Meanwhile at the top, Jinta was up to something again which which did not go unnoticed by Ururu's attention. In front of him was a plate with a variety of different fruits. There were bananas, cantaloupe, apples, even a watermelon. "Jinta?" the innocent looking girl called, "what are you doing with all those fruits?"

"I'm giving them to Ichigo," he said with his evil grin.

Ururu was confused by this action. It wasn't normal for Jinta to do something nice for someone. "What for?" she asked.

The smile widened on the boy's face, "Because they all require hands to eat."

Ururu just stared at him with her usual expression as she thought to herself. "But can't you just bite the apple?"

Once finished Jinta ran to the edge of the pit and stuck his head out to see the condition of the poor teenager. He then ran down the side of the wall in a full-on sprint to jump safely to the bottom. Ichigo looked at him curiously before the red head spoke.

"I brought you some food," he said with a smug grin basically permanently stuck to his face. "I figured you'd be hungry."

Ichigo gave a small laugh of confidence. "Ha. What are you talking about? I'm not hungry in the slightest." He lifted his chest off the ground to show his chain to Jinta (that could have sounded better). "Look, the chain is still long."

A serious look fell upon the boy as he analyzed the chain. There was silence which caused Ichigo to worry. "Whatever, I'll just leave the food here. You obviously don't know what time it is down here."

"Time?" the teen asked.

"There's one other thing you need to know Ichigo." He turned to face the other direction. "It's already been seventy hours since we put you in this pit. If the procedure goes well, a certain someone should have become a hollow by now."

Ichigo became nervous as he now heard just how long he had been in this unbearable place. "Damnit," he thought to himself. "I'm running out of time."

"And one more thing." The orange haired teen brought his attention back to Jinta. "The strength of the last stage of 'corrasion' is stronger than any from before it."

Within that moment, a strange sound shrilled from the chain. Looking down, Ichigo saw all the chains attached to his chest grew mouths as each one began to devour each other and fall apart. He once again started to hyperventilate as his heart rate suddenly jumped. One by one, they fell off like dead flies and landed on the ground.

"No…" said Ichigo.

"No no no no no no," he repeated at a faster pace.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS! STO…" At that instant, the last chain had been devoured, the metal plate attached to his chest shattered to reveal a gaping hole in the center of his chest. He fell silent at the realization. A feeling of deep regret suddenly over took him before a great pain invaded his system. Greater than any pain he had felt before.

 **"AAAAAHHHHH!"** He let out a scream from the sheer agony he was experiencing as a surge of white liquid erupted from his face. Some of the liquid began to harden and took form, covering half the face with the design of a mask. The pain continued to consume his body as he suffered on his knees with no one being able to help them.

A sudden explosion of spiritual pressure encircled Ichigo screaming form. The dust around him began to form a miniature tornado with his soul being the epicenter. Jinta ran for his life up the wall of the pit for both his safety and out of fear. Once he reached the top, he was met by Ururu's permanently sad expression as she stared down at the hole. But there was something different about it. For some reason she felt… worried.

"Oi oi," said Jinta as he climbed out, "This guy is really turning into a Hollow!"

Ururu remained silent as she continued to hear the screams of sheer agony as more and more of the white liquid gushed out of him, putting Ichigo in a state of pain. "Preparing 'rescue operation'," she said as she lifted her fist, pointing it directly at the transforming teen.

"Wait." A hand reached out and rested on the young girl's shoulders. Ururu turned around to see her boss standing behind her.

"Kisuke," she said passively.

"You have to pay more attention Ururu. Look." He pointed his cane down the bottom of the hole towards the struggling teen. Ururu directed her attention back to Ichigo as Kisuke began to explain. "Usually when a person is turning into a Hollow, their soul would explode and then regroup. But his order is different, more random. Instead his body is remaining completely intact, as the process is starting by creating a mask." Both kids looked up at Kisuke, waiting to get more information out of his explanation. "This means he is resisting the transformation. There is still a chance for him to turn into a Shinigami."

He set his cane down, resting his body weight on it. "Let's observe a little longer and see if he's really transforming into a Hollow. Just need a little more time." Both of them listened to the blonde man as they sat down uncomfortably, watching and waiting for whatever happens next.

 **Ichigo's Mind:**

All Ichigo could see was black. Every sense of his body was disoriented, but he could no longer feel any pain.

"Ichigo," echoed a bizarre, distorted voice. It almost sounded like it was mocking him

"Ichigo." The voice stretched the "ee" sound at the beginning of his name in a teasing, condescending manner. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Ichigo then opened his eyes to see himself in very unfamiliar, and very unusual place. There were long pillars stretching out from the side of the ground. Each of the buildings were oddly at a slant as he found himself sitting on the window of one. Was this his Hell? Last he checked he wasn't afraid of heights.

"What is this place?" he asked himself.

"Ichigo!" the familiar voice snapped.

"What! What do you want?"

His eyes widened with an audible gasp. He quickly realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It was his own. He knew because the very person standing before him was none other than himself, or at least an obverse version of himself. The person's skin was void of color, only possessing white. The same could be said about his shihakusho as well with the exception of his black sash around his waist. His eyes were an intense yellow that glowed in his black sclera. And to top it all off, the cockiest devilish grin Ichigo had ever seen.

His pale doppelganger rested his left hand on his hip. "Jeez don't have to be so rude, I was just trying to get your attention."

A confused look came across Ichigo as he stared at his alternate self. "Who… who are you?"

"Come on Ichigo you really don't know? It's me, -. Your zanpakuto."

A confused look took over Ichigo's expression. He could see his self-proclaimed zanpakuto move his mouth, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. "Who?" he asked dumbly once again.

A disappointed look came across the impostor's face, wiping the grin off his face. "He can't hear me yet, can he," he said to himself. "Well, if that be the case, that's a really disappointment, even for someone like you."

The last comment ticked Ichigo off as he shouted at the unknown person. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

The white man's smirk quickly reappeared on his face as he chuckled at Ichigo's retort. "Oh well, I guess you'll never know how to wield me then. Damn shame," his replica shrugged. "I was kinda lookin' forward to working with you." For some odd reason, he then fell flat on his back and laid there with his arms sprawled out on the window.

Ichigo stared at him quizzically as if the person had suddenly grown an extra head on his shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Yah know," said the duplicate as he stared down at Ichigo. "It's quite amazing how you're still able to sit in that one place for this long."

It was then at that moment when Ichigo felt the sudden shift in force tug at his chest, pulling him backwards. He looked back to realize that the ground was in the direction that he was being pulled to. "Oh, this can't be good," he thought.

The spirit gave his wielder a little wave, "Bye bye."

Ichigo felt his body contact leave the side of building. He knew it was too late to try and grab a hold of something to prevent his descent, so he did the only logical thing that came to mind in this situation: scream

"AAAAHHHH!"

The spirit stood where he was, picking at his ear as he watched the teen fall from such a great height. "Man, seems like the only thing he's been doing for the past three days is yelling. I'm surprised that he even still has his voice," the counterpart thought to himself. "Color me impressed." He then decided that it was time for him to jumped down and talk to the falling kid. He leaned forwards and proceeded to nose dive with the assistance of some shunpo to help him reach his destination faster.

Once he caught up to the terrified Ichigo he decided that it was probably best if he tried to calm him down so that the teen would listen to him. "Don't worry Ichigo, Shinigami control death and spiritual energy. You won't die here, unless that's what you want."

"But I'm not a Shinigami anymore!" Ichigo retorted.

A sigh of disappointment escaped the lips of the zanpakuto spirit. "Just gather the energy under your feet, then you can use it to stand in midair."

"Are you even listening to me!"

"Come on Amateur, don't tell me you forgot how to use such a basic of a technique. You've used it some many times. I guess it was all subconscious, huh?" Ichigo then realized what his impostor was talking about. He recollected all the times he had used spiritual energy in order to stop himself in the air, but still remained clueless as to how to do it.

"God you are hopeless without help." The spirit then rested his chin on his index finger and thumb as he began to ponder about something. "Let's see what else did the old man want me to tell you? Dah! You know what, screw him! I'm gonna do things my way."

"Old man?"

"So, you know how Byakuya destroyed your Shinigami powers?"

"Y-yeah…"

"He actually didn't, it was Rukia's reiatsu that was manifested in you that got destroyed." Ichigo's eyes widened. He figured out exactly where this conversation was going. "That's right, you had Shinigami powers of your own. Can you guess who that power is?" The spirit arrogantly pointed his thumb and placed it on his chest. "This guy."

"Y-you? My powers?" Ichigo questioned the idea that he had always had Shinigami powers.

"Yup, your power was awoken when Rukia gave you her own, but the power you search for was hidden deep within your soul long before 'Brother Issues' came along." The pale man crossed his legs and took a relax, laid back position as the two fell. "You know, you should probably thank him when you meet him again. If it wasn't for him, you would be held back by that icy bitch of a zanpakuto spirit. Now…" the playful demeanor subsided as the pale counterpart gave a menacing death glare. "go find your powers before I consume your soul."

"What!? What's that supposed to mean!?" Ichigo shouted in a panic.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm also the hollow that resides inside you. As you probably already know, I am in the process of taking control of your body. I'm your double-edged sword; you will use me in battle and destroy your enemies, but if you show weakness, I will not hesitate to cut you down. If you accept me, that means you have to accept this responsibility. If you cannot find me in time, I will have to take over your body, then there will be no coming back. Now hurry up, your world is already starting to decay. Don't be a disappointment to me, Amateur."

Boxes suddenly started to fall from the deteriorating world around him as he continued to fall. The ground around him shattered the moment he made contact, shrouding him in a world of pitch black and cubes.

"My zanpakuto… is a hollow?" he said to himself. "I know I am willing to risk everything to save Rukia, but what consequence will this bring me? How will this affect my friends? Will I end up hurting them?" His mind went awry with questions as he tried to list every probable outcome that he could come up with. "Argh!" Realizing he didn't have enough time to contemplate the matter, he did what he does best. "You know what? Screw it. Hollow!" he shouted out with a resonating voice. "I accept the consequences of your power! Now, lend me your strength."

Once he said this, his view was suddenly flooded with white ribbons, each one trailing back to one of the thousands of boxes in the black world around him.

"Ribbons?" he asked himself. He then remembered that piece of information that Ishida once said in their last conflict with each other.

"The color of a Shinigami's reiraku is red," flashed Ishida's voice in his head as he recollected a flashback to remind himself.

"That's it!" shouted Ichigo. He then spotted in the mixture of cloths one single black one floating towards him. At first glance, he was unsure of whether it was the right one, but due to seeing no other color in sight, he decided to make a go for it. Moving as quickly as he could, he snatch the ribbon and gave it a hard tug, opening the box in the process. What he saw inside was the hilt of his once broken sword that he used before losing his power.

"Congratulations, you found it," said the pale replica as he appeared behind Ichigo. "Now, after all these years, I can finally tell you my name."

Ichigo turned to see his inner Hollow right before the world around him started to collapse. "Well looks like you decided just in the nick of time. Now. Hurry up and pull me out before it's too late!"

In a panic, the orange haired teenager spun around and grabbed the hilt from the box and pulled it out with all his strength.

 **Real World:**

There was a great build up of pressure that was exuding from the screaming teen. The shopworkers watched intently as the event unfolded, waiting to see if Ichigo could pull through or not. But to Kisuke, something didn't feel right. He was sensing a great deal of reiatsu being built up, but none of it being released. That only meant one thing. Kisuke quickly grabbed hold of Jinta's collar and pulled him back. He did it just in the nick of time.

An unrelenting explosion of reiatsu burst from the bottom of the pit, launching dust and gravel hundreds of feet up into the air. Once everyone was a safe distance away, they stared starstruck at the consistent amount of energy being release. Even Kisuke was dumbfounded.

 **Ichigo's Mind:**

"Ichigo! This is no time for joking around, hurry up and pull me out!" The zanpakuto spirit rushed his user. The world around them was falling to ruins.

"God damnit!" he yelled as he struggled to pull out the seemingly stuck swords. "I can't get it out!" In a comical fashion, Ichigo's zanpakuto spirit got behind him and began to pull with all his strength on the back of Ichigo's shirt.

"Come on Ichigo, put your back into it!"

 **Real World:**

Ichigo continued to shout as the transformation into his hollow form ensued with everyone watching in anticipation and readying themselves for the events to follow. A tearing sound could be heard as the teen quickly began to over powered the kido that restrained him.

"Kisuke!" shouted Tessai, "It's been too long! I'm going to have to eliminate him!" With that, he slammed his index and middle finger on both hands into the ground. "Bakudou: number ninety-nine! Manjikin!" A burst of white cloths erupted from both sides of the man to wrap around the struggling teen. "First song! Manjikin!" The clothing then tightened around his body in order to restrain him once again. "Second song! Manjikin!" Dozens of needles appeared from nowhere and stabbed into the teen to further restrict his movements.

Jinta peered over the edge once again. "Oi, Tessai! What the Hell are you doing! If you use that then the kid will die for sure!"

"That can't be avoided! I must restrain him! I have to destroy him before he becomes a Hollow!"

"Tessai!" Jinta shouted.

"Final song. MAJIKIN FUTOSHIFU!" A massive pillar of stone, suddenly appeared over the struggling teen and quickly began to make its descent.

Just then, a hole burst from the teens chest destroying the white cloth revealing a haunting sight. A fully formed hollow mask with red gash-like marks that went down from the top to the eye of the cover.

"It's over," shouted the large man. The large pillar slam down on top of Ichigo. Yet another massive explosion erupted from the pit forcing Kisuke to cover for the young kids near him. From the explosion, something shot out from dust.

"Something came out!" shouted Jinta. He was then promptly silenced when said object landed directly in front of them with a great amount of force unleashed from impact

"What the hell is going on?" asked Jinta. "Is that you kid? Answer me triangle eyes! If you're still alive, then answer me!" A low growl could be heard from the dust that covered the figure from head to toe.

With a swipe of his arm, the person cleared the dust around him revealing it to be none other than Ichigo, but he was different. His attire was similar to that of a normal shinigami, but was a slight shade lighter making it look gray as opposed to black. He wore a mask with two red lines that leading from the top left of it down to his left eye. His eyes had also changed; the whites of his eyes were now pitch black, and his iris practically glowed an intense yellow.

"A mask and a shinigami outfit? But why is it gray?" commented Jinta.

Everyone was confused and worried at the new unveiling of Ichigo's form. In his hand was the remanence of his former broken sword. They couldn't figure out what he was or whether he made it out the same Ichigo as they once knew. Without any form of a warning, Ichigo suddenly disappeared form sight giving a minor heart attack for the three on guard. The teen suddenly appeared before Kisuke with his fist clenched into a ball and launching it into the direction of the shop owner's face.

Moving as quickly as he could, Kisuke raised his cane and blocked the oncoming strike. The force behind it was incredible and had almost caught him off guard. He hadn't felt such physical strength in a very long time.

Ichigo jumped back to give himself some distance. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Ichigo stood in a relaxed position. Kisuke watched curiously as the teen reach up and grabbed the bottom of his mask and lifted it up to reveal his face. "Alright Kisuke, time to pay up."

"What the hell!" shouted Jinta. "So did this guy turn into a Hollow or what?!"

"Shut up you're so damn noise, brat!" Ichigo shouted back.

"What was that?!"

Kisuke let out a sigh of relief as the two argued with each other. Despite the new form, it was still the same old Ichigo Kurosaki. "Congratulations Ichigo. You've successfully lived through the process, which means," he opened his fan and gave his signature comedic, happy-go-lucky smile, "You've passed the second test!"

"Shut up," said Ichigo angrily as he hit Kisuke in the face with the bottom of his hilt.

"Ah! My eyes!"

"Since I've come back alive, that means I'm gonna have to fulfill my promise in killing you!" shouted the pissed off teen as tick marks ran along all over his face.

"My, what energy you have," said Kisuke in a sarcastic fashion. "Very well, with that attitude we can immediately move on to the next lesson. This time there is no time limit." He pointed to his hat atop his head. "If you can use your sword to cut down my hat, you win!"

Ichigo suddenly disappeared again from sight which mildly surprise the shop owner once again. Suddenly the surrounding area got a little bit brighter. "You mean this hat?" Ichigo's voice suddenly appearing from behind him. He turned around and saw Ichigo holding his prized hat in his hand and with a cocky smile on his face.

"Hey, that's pretty good!" The shop owner said nonchalantly as he scratched the top of his head

"Of course it is," Ichigo said arrogantly, "And I will be much stronger than what I am now once I start getting serious." He lifted his hand to show all five of his fingers raised. "You don't have to say there's a time limit, because I will only need five minutes to kick your ass."

Kisuke's eyes suddenly became dead and emotionless. "Is that so?" He grabbed his cane with both hands and slowly pulled out a sword from the sheath. "Then I will give you five minutes to try and win."

Ichigo gave a wide smirk to the shop owner's challenge. "Bring it."


	2. Beginning a New Adventure

From the hole of which Ichigo's new form was born, smoke continued to rise from the dark abyss. A large, muscular arm popped out from the pit to be followed by the large man known as Tessai. As he lifted himself up, he adjusted his glasses. At least, what was left of them.

"Oh, you're okay!" said Jinta in a bit of surprise as he turned to see the man get out from the hole.

"Who said that I'm okay?" responded Tessai. "My glasses have been severely damaged," he said in a matter of fact tone as he examined the broken reading utensil.

This caused the boy to sweat drop as he saw that there was barely a mark left on the man other than a few scrapes, realizing what a monster his co-worker was. "What I meant was that you don't have any wounds." Jinta then turned his attention back to the action that was unfolding. "Whatever. But I suggest you keep your glasses on, even if they are broken." His tone changed from easygoing to excitement as he watched the ongoing battle. "Now that the boss has drawn his sword, things are going to get a lot more interesting. It's your loss if you miss it."

Tessai looked at the battle that was begin displayed when he noticed something different about Ichigo's appearance which made him a little nervous. "Why is his shihakusho gray and why does he have a hollow mask over his face?"

"It's fine," reassured Jinta. "He's still himself, mostly. But he just came out that way for no apparent reason, at least from what I can tell." This explanation caused the big man to hum in a pondering manner as he examined Ichigo more thoroughly from where he stood.

Kisuke swung his sword once again with his aim targeting the orange hair, narrowly missing him but chopping the top of a nearby rock clean off. Kisuke had been on the offensive for the most part, but Ichigo was putting up a rather good fight. However, that didn't necessarily help the one-sidedness of the battle.

"Come on, that's bullshit!" shouted the teen with a hint of complaining in his voice. "I call hacks! There's no physical way a sword that thing can do this much damage!"

In typical Kisuke fashion, milked the situation to its fullest with his typical dumb grin on his face. "What's this?" he said in a teasing manner. "The great Kurosaki is afraid of a candy shop owner?"

"Go to Hell Kisuke!" yelled Ichigo as he blocked a few of Kisuke's oncoming attacks. "My sword's broken!"

Suddenly, a thought came to mind as defended himself. "Hold on…" he rambled in his thought some more. "Wait a minute. In order to kill a hollow or a shinigami, you can only do so with a zanpakuto. So that means that the sword he pulled from his cane shouldn't be a zanpakuto and there's no way he's a Shinigami." His movement began to slow down. "Which means that nothing will happen if I'm hit by it…"

Just then a sword slashed right next to his ear, chipping off a part of his mask along with creating a small gash in his shoulder.

"What's the matter Ichigo, you seem so relaxed. Let me guess, 'he isn't a Shinigami, so that means he shouldn't have a zanpakuto. This means nothing will happen if I get hit.'" Kisuke hit it right on the nail with his assumption. "You really are so naïve." He lifted his sword, "Awaken, Benihime." The sword that was once the shape of a cane transformed before his eyes as Ichigo said in disbelief at the ability Kisuke had just shown him.

"This is most absolutely a real zanpakuto."

Ichigo gazed in astonishment. He couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. Kisuke, of all people had a zanpakuto, and not only that, he had full access to it power. Suddenly, the image of Renji appeared in his head from their last encounter. His blade was also able to transform when he mentioned the name of his zanpakuto. "A zanpakuto's name." Ichigo thought.

"That is correct Kurosaki. Every zanpakuto has its own individual name." Kisuke pointed the blade at the flabbergasted teen. "And as for mine, her name is…" His expression became even more serious as a form of power began to emit from the blade. "Go, Benihime."

Kisuke swung his sword, which Ichigo only narrowly avoided. Due to Kisuke missing his target, the attack landed on a large boulder. The rock completely shattered, exploding into pieces creating a shockwave that propelled our protagonist tumbling to regain balance. Once he managed to do so, Kisuke emerged from the dust to continue his relentless attack against Ichigo as they clashed swords, putting themselves in a deadlock.

As they were in a stalemate, Kisuke decided to drop some knowledge on the struggling orange hair. "Honestly, it's quite impressive that you've lasted this long and have done so well against me with a broken sword. You have a lot of courage. However," Kisuke looked from under his hat as he stared down Ichigo, "with the kind of zanpakuto you have there's no way you can beat me."

The shop owner put more pressure on his blade, slicing through Ichigo's already broken blade. At the very last second, Ichigo moved his zanpakuto to the side, narrowly avoiding Kisuke's strike, but still completing its cut through the steel blade.

"Eh shit," grumbled Ichigo, but still held his ground. "Why is it so easy to break my sword nowadays?"

"It seems your strength is only a little bit greater than what it was before," explained Kisuke from directly behind him as if he was reading his thoughts. Ichigo took a swing at the shop owner, but the attack was easily avoided. "Your powers haven't fully solidified, it only bloated up the size of your sword. That's why…I can break your sword so easily." Kisuke swung his zanpakuto completely destroying Ichigo's, leaving him with only half of the guard and the handle.

It was only then when Ichigo truly realized how out classed he was in battle. "Now your sword's gone," said Kisuke with a cocky smirk, "What are you going to do? Are you still gonna use it to defeat me? What was all that talk earlier about kicking my ass, all you did was grab my hat. Do you think you can still fight with just your hilt?" He paused to let the taunts sink in before continuing. "Now you realize… that this problem can no longer be solved by guts and courage so let me tell you this. If you still want to fight with that broken toy of yours then I will have to kill you."

A look of pure horror filled his being as felt powerless once again. For a moment, his body couldn't move an inch. Thoughts stormed through his head like a hurricane, destroying any logical idea that came to mind. The only thing that was clear to him were his instincts, and they were telling him one thing and one thing only. Run.

"Man, you look pathetic," chimed in a voice that sounded all too familiar to Ichigo. Turning around he saw his pale twin standing with his arms crossed and his head shaking in disapproval. "You really are an amateur."

"Hollow," said Ichigo in a surprised tone.

"Really? No shit. Glad you didn't mistake me for someone else that looks just like you." Judging by the sarcasm in his voice, Ichigo could tell that his zanpakuto spirit was pissed.

The teen was confused by his zanpakuto spirit's attitude. "What crawled up your ass?"

The zanpakuto spirit growled in frustration before walking up to the teen and grabbing him by the collar. "You still haven't called my name yet!" shouted the hollow in a roar of anger as he quite literally tried to shake some sense into him.

"But you haven't told me your name yet," Ichigo retorted, getting dizzy from the violent shaking.

Silence quickly filled the air as the pale twin of Ichigo held his grip tightly around his shihakusho. The hollow's grip then loosed and lightly hit the bottom of his fist into his palm like a mallet. "Your right," he said nonchalantly. A sweat drop formed on Ichigo's head at his zanpakuto spirit's bluntness.

The insane grin soon reappeared on the hollow's face. "Very well then, continue with your fight. But remember. There is only one major opponent in battle, and that is yourself. The moment you hesitate is the moment you fall. Through the heat of battle, there should only be one thing that you should trust more than anyone else. Now say it." Ichigo turned back around to face the man in the hat as he lifted the remains of his sword. He put his left arm on top of his right bicep as he pointed it at Urahara. "Say my name!"

"Zangetsu!"

A roar of power burst from Ichigo's body as he yelled his zanpakuto's name. All his prior wounds began to close shut, even his mask began to repair itself. Dust began to pick up once again and swirled around the teen like a miniature tornado. In one swift motion, Ichigo turned around and released a powerful crescent of blue reiatsu unto Kisuke's direction which he only narrowly dodged.

The attack went sailing for a few yards before crashing into the side of a large boulder, utterly decimating it in upon collision. Kisuke trailed his eyes back to Ichigo after watching the attack wiz by him like a bullet.

He then saw it. Ichigo's new zanpakuto. It was smaller than his previous one, this one being only two thirds his height, and had a much sleeker in design. The weapon itself was pitch black, and Khyber knife shaped with a thin hollowed-out portion that ran along the back edge of the blade and extended from the hilt to the midsection of the sword. It's handle was long, extending farther in length than Ichigo's forearm with white bandages surrounding the grip.

"Well," said Kisuke. "Since your zanpakuto has now revealed itself, we can now officially begin lesson three."

"Cut the crap Kisuke," Ichigo interrupted. "I suggest you do your best to avoid getting hit by this attack."

"Wha?" replied the shop owner with his typical goofy looking face.

"Because I not going to hold back any more." An intense blue aura surrounded Ichigo's new blade as he lifted it height over his head. "And this time, I won't miss." For the first time in the entirety of the battle, Kisuke felt panicked as he sensed just how monstrous the reiatsu being stored into the blade was

"Scream, Benihime!" shouted Kisuke just before Ichigo slashed his sword. A barrier formed in front of Kisuke just before the attack could make contact with him only to realize that it wouldn't be able to hold out against the sheer power in Ichigo's attack. At the last possible second, Kisuke jump to avoid the crescent of energy right before the shield shattered. He tumbled across the ground for quite some distance until he finally stopped.

Kisuke found himself flat on his ass as he tried to catch his breath from the pumping of adrenalin from that last attack. He picked himself up off the ground and dusted the dirt off his pants. "My, my, my," said Kisuke in his easy-going attitude. "That attack really packed a punch. If I hadn't reacted as quick as I did, I could have died." He reached for his hat laying on the ground, which was remarkably unscathed, and placed it on his head. "I wasn't expecting so much power behind just one swing. You really are a scary kid, Kurosaki."

He turned to assesses the damage to find a large crevice embedded deep in the earth of the training ground. There was almost nothing left from the monstrous attack but a smoking canyon. Nothing had, or would have survived. He then looked back towards Ichigo who had fainted from exhaustion from the amount of energy had had exerted.

"You have passed the third test."

 **A Seven Days Later:**

"Okay," said Ichigo as he sat on his bed looking out the open window. He looked at the alarm clock next to his bed. "It's one AM now so his message should be coming at any moment." There was a uneasy feeling in the pit of Ichigo's stomach as he waited for the message to arrive, but that was all he could really do. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he said rhetorically.

Suddenly a large ball with Kisuke's face on it came hurdling towards the window. "What." The sailing object then slammed into the closet door splattering, what looked like to be blood, all over the cupboard. As the liquid material rolled down, a message began to appear.

" _Please meet at Urahara's shop immediately,"_ it read.

A nervous sweat began to trickle down the teen's face as he read the message. "This looks like a message from someone who's about to die."

The blood like material slid down a little more to leave behind another message. _"P.S. for those that think that this looks like a message from some before his death… you have no sense of humor."_

"Go to Hell!"

 **Streets of Karakura:**

Ichigo ran through the streets of his home town as he grumbled in annoyance about the method Urahara used to send his message. "That stuff better be able to wash off, or else everyone's gonna freak out when they walk into my room," he thought to himself. As he ran to the candy shop, Orihime popped up from around the corner.

"Yo, Inoue," said Ichigo

"Oh, Kurosaki!"

"So you were called for too?"

"Uh, yeah," said the bubbly girl in a slightly depressed mood which did not go unnoticed by Ichigo.

"What's wrong? You seem kind of sad." He was legitimately concerned for her friend.

"Well, um." A dark cloud suddenly appeared over her. "I was told I have no sense of humor."

This caused Ichigo to sweat drop as he realized that Orihime got the same massage. "Even she wasn't safe," he thought to himself.

Ichigo then slowed down to a stop which caught the auburn girl's attention as she did the same to see what had come over her friend. "Hey Inoue. I just want to ask you something."

"What is it?" she asked

"I heard from Urahara, that you were going to join us, but I wasn't sure if you were really going to come." He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulder and stared at her dead in the eye. This action caught the girl completely off guard as her face began to burn red from how deeply her crush was gazing at her. "I just want to make sure, do you want to go through this."

She had to take several deep breaths before finally calming herself down to answer the question with thought. "Of course," she said with confidence, "I have already made my decision." Her face was still a bit fluster from Ichigo maintaining his concerned gaze at her.

A smile then brightened up Ichigo's face. "Alright then." He placed his hand on Orihime's head and began to pat it like what an older brother would do to comfort their younger sibling. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Orihime was a bit stunned by that act of affection Ichigo had suddenly showed her. Something seemed different about him than before. The aura around him was stronger, more confident, but at the same time warmer, like a soft blanket that you refuse to leave when you wake up in the morning. It just came off him naturally, like steam to a hot drink. She hadn't felt anything like this from Ichigo before, for the first time in a while, she felt safe. A gentle blush spread across her cheeks as she smiled at this feeling of warmth.

"Okay!" she said with enthusiasm as they both started running again towards their destination.

After several minutes of running, they finally arrived at their destination. Much to their surprise, they found their gentle giant of a friend already there. "Jeez Chad, you're already here? Man, you're fast," Ichigo exclaimed in surprise.

"I couldn't sleep." The half Mexican stood up from the box he waited on, "So I went for a walk. I got the notice around here."

"Around here?" asked the carrot top. Chad pointed his thumb down the street, directing Ichigo's attention to the same blood imprinted message splattered all across the concrete. "Seriously!" He shouted.

Suddenly, a thought came to mind as the three stood at the front of the candy shop. "Where's Ishida?" asked Ichigo, "I heard he was coming as well."

"Ishida will come, just wait a little bit longer," said Orihime enthusiastically.

"He won't come," Chad suddenly said.

"Chad!" Orihime shouted, finding the words she was hearing to be unbelievable.

"It's no big deal. It's better if Ishida doesn't come. Among us, he's the most complex. The more complex a person is, the weaker they are. So I believe that he is the weakest amongst us. If he doesn't come, maybe that would be better."

"Who did you say wouldn't come?" Behind them stood the one and only Uryu Ishida. This time he wore a completely white outfit that practically screaming that he was a Quincy. "Haven't I told you? I can't forgive myself for losing against those Shinigami, so I had to train. Since I said this, I will not stop until I defeat them. For that, I'll go anywhere." He expression then softened a bit but was filled with determination as he looked at his rival. "Also, Kurosaki, I want to show you just how much stronger I've become."

A surprised look fell upon Ichigo's face as he stared at his friend in amazement. "Ishida," he said. "Did you walk all the way here dressed in such weird clothing? You are brave." This comment of course completely killed the mood.

"What do you mean weird clothes!"

"Oh? Looks like everyone's here." Kisuke cut the conversation short as he came around the corner of his shop to greet the group. "Alright, come in," he opened the door, "I'll explain everything on how to get into Soul Society. Also, please listen carefully, otherwise you might die before you even make it there.

 **Urahara's Underground Basement:**

"Whoa!" exclaimed Orihime in amazement. "This is amazing! I didn't know there was such a large space underground! This is so cool! It's almost like an underground base!"

"Really?" thought Ichigo, being more impressed by the bubbly girl's reaction than the area they stood in.

Suddenly, the large man by the name of Tessai appeared with tears in his eyes. "Someone appreciated my work." He grabbed Orihime's hands gently as he shook them in happiness. "I, Tessai, feel so touched."

"Heh heh heh. It's really nothing," she replied as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

With a clap of his hands everyone's attention fell back onto the shop owner. "Okay everybody, may I have your attention please." He snapped his fingers. "We're about to begin." There was a low rumble at the beginning before four pillars suddenly appeared out of thin air to form a hollowed-out rectangle. "Come now, this is the door to Soul Society, the Senkaimon. Now please listen carefully." The tension in the room was dialed to eleven as Urahara's expression became dead serious. "I'm going to tell you how to go through the door without dying. But before we do any of that." He looked over at Ichigo as he waited for a response.

The orange haired teen gave him a nod of confirmation before turning to his friends. "Alright, before Kisuke separates my soul, I just want you guys to promise that you won't freak out." This caused a lot of strange looks for the group as they gazed at him in confusion.

"Why do you ask?" questioned Uryu

"I sort of look have a Hollow in my body," Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Nani?!" shouted practically everyone upon hearing this information.

Reacting realizing that that would be their reaction, Ichigo quickly turned to Kisuke. "Now Kisuke!"

Urahara hit Ichigo on the center of his forehead with his cane, launching his soul out from his body. Everyone was more than surprised as they stared the orange hair's bizarre form for the first time. His shihakusho was a dark gray, and his zanpakuto was considerably shorter and less bulky. However, the thing that caught their attention the most was the white and red Hollow mask covering his face and his two piecing yellow eyes staring deep into their souls.

"I introduce to you, the new Ichigo Kurosaki," Kisuke presented.

Everyone had to take a step back at the sight before them. There he stood, Ichigo Kurosaki, with the evil design of a Hollow mask covering almost his entire face. Not to mention the monstrous amount of reiatsu being exuded from him.

"Why didn't you tell us this beforehand?!" shouted Uryu in a fit of frustration.

"I did!" Ichigo whined back.

"When?!"

"Like, ten seconds ago!"

"Ten seconds isn't enough time for us to handle this kind of revelation!"

"Well Chad seems to be handling it quite well!"

Chad, despite his stoic exterior, was not handling the revelation very well. Inside, his heart was beating at a rapid pace and beads of sweat were rolling down his face from the adrenaline rush.

"Ichigo," spoke Orihime in a worried tone of voice, catching the orange hair's attention. "Are you really Ichigo?"

Ichigo gave his classmate a soft smile. "Relax Inoue, it's still me. I'm not gonna eat your soul anytime soon."

Orihime just stared anxiously at the teen. The mask was a haunting reminder of her last encounter with her brother. Seeing Sora in such a painful and violent state was scaring for the auburn haired girl. There was no way she could stand that same sight with Ichigo. However, she had trust in Ichigo. More trust in him than anyone else in her life. In the end, despite his appearance, Ichigo was still Ichigo, and she just had to accept this, no matter what form he took.

"O-okay," she said, tentatively trusting her friend.

Ichigo looked at his friend who were all still hesitant. "Come on guy!" he whined at his friend lack of faith in him.

"Hello," Kisuke waved his hands in order to get back everyone's attention so that he could explain the contraption he built. Everyone eventually brought their attention back to the man in a hat as he began to explain. "Alright, so usually this door is made by adding Reishihenkanki at the top of the Senkaimon and then use ketsugofu, or this cloth you see here, to cover it up so that it stays in once piece."

"Reishihenkanki?" asked Ichigo, unfamiliar with the term.

"Yes. As you all know, Soul Society is the world of souls. In order to get there, you have to become a soul yourself. But as you all know, the only person who can move around as a soul is Kurosaki. For the other three, even if your souls leave your body, your souls will still be chained by the Chain of Fate. Not to mention the difficulty of moving around in Soul Society." He pointed his index finger up. "That's where the magic of reishihenkanki comes in. It changes the 'kishi', with is what makes up the things in the world of the living, and turns into 'reishi', which is the main component of the soul."

"So that means that rather than separating our souls, we just have to walk through this door," clarified Uryu.

"Correct," replied Urahara. "Once you've done that, you can freely move around in Soul Society.

"Alright, bitchin', let's go in," exclaimed Ichigo as he approached the large portal. Before he got anywhere Urahara jabbed Ichigo hard in his side with the cane. "Oh shit!" he cried, collapsing to the ground in pain.

"Now is the important part," said Urahara, completely disregarding Ichigo's cries of pain. The teen had to walk over to the nearest rock to rest himself from the pain in his side. "There is no problem with going through the door, you shouldn't feel any pain as long as you keep going forward. The problem that you will face however, is time. The time allowed for you to go through the Senkaimon is only four minutes. Once time is up, the door will close and you guy will be locked inside the Dangai forever."

"Well shit," said the carrot top.

"Indeed. There's one last thing that I need to say before you guys leave. There is a current called the Kouryuu which traps souls within it. If even a foot is caught in it, the chances of making it through the Dangai become virtually impossible."

"So then should do we do?" Orihime asked.

"Just walk forward." A new unfamiliar voice appeared from behind. Turning around they saw a black cat with slick fur walking towards them.

"Yoruichi!" exclaimed the auburn girl.

"Didn't I tell you that the heart and soul are connected. What's important is what your heart thinks," continued the cat.

There was a blank look on Ichigo's face as he stared at the feline in front of him. This didn't go unnoticed by Yoruichi as she decided to tease the boy. "What's the matter, kid? Cat got your tongue?"

There was complete silence for quite some time as the two looked at each other. "Did that cat just talk?" Ichigo asked Kisuke dumbfoundedly as he pointed at the animal, as if to confirm that he wasn't going insane.

"Yes, I did just talk," answer the cat in a matter-of-fact tone.

The response was met yet again with a long and awkward silence. "Can I ask you to do something?" asked Ichigo, finally breaking the ice.

Yoruichi raised her eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Can you… can you hop on my shoulder?"

Everyone's head collectively tilted in confusion at the strange request Ichigo had asked for. Just what was he thinking.

"I… guess," replied the black cat as it walked over and hopped onto Ichigo's left shoulder.

While the cat stood there with everyone's attention on him, Ichigo's going down his mental check-list in his head. "Alright, a fifteen year old who looks like a college student, check. Spiky colored hair, check. Depressing backstory, check. Demonic powers that will probably be the death of me, check."

"You know it," chimed in Zangetsu.

"A big-ass-sword, check. Has a small talking animal that can ride along on my shoulder, check." He stared at the small animal as it awkwardly tried to moved away from Ichigo's analyzing gaze. "You wouldn't happen to be able to transform into anything, would you?" He asked from seemingly out of nowhere.

The cat remained silent as if unsure of whether to answer the question or not.

Ichigo's eyes squinted as if taking the animals sudden lack of a response as a hint. "I'm gonna leave that with half a check."

He turned over to his friends who had been staring at him silently, trying to figure out what was going on inside the strawberry's head. "Guys, I think I might be an anime character."

Everyone collectively dropped to the floor at the seemingly out of nowhere comment. The only person who found humor in the remark as she spat out into a fit of laughter. "This kid's going to be fun," she said to herself.

"I think now is a good time for us to get going," said Urahara.

"Alright," said Ichigo as everyone walked towards the Senkaimon, "let's get this show on the road."


	3. Introductions

The group of four people and a cat were all sprinting through the Dangai as the impending Koutotsu was chasing after them like a full speed cargo train. "What the fuck is that thing!" exclaimed Ichigo as he began running for his life.

"The Koutotsu!" shouted Yoruichi, "It's the janitor that comes every seven days to cleanse this place."

"Are you kidding me! Why today of all times!?" complained the carrot top.

"Doesn't matter, just run like Hell!"

After a few seconds, the group finally discovered the entrance as a bright light shined through the cave of the Dangai. "Just a little more," said the cat. Unfortunately, the massive object had somehow managed to catch up to the group, practically on their rears as they ran for their lives.

"It's too late!" shouted Ishida from atop Chads shoulder from the previous incident involving his cape getting caught, "It's already caught up to us! We're gonna get stuck!"

"Not today we're not." Ichigo slowed his pace so that he was just behind his friends before grabbing them by the waist with his arms. Orihime let out a small yelp of surprise while Chad just looked at his friend in confusion. "Here we go!"

The Koutotsu, a mere centimeter away from Ichigo's back, was on the verge of capturing its prey. The time seemed to get down to the final millisecond before Ichigo had finally enacted his plan. He gathered as much spiritual energy as he could underneath his feet as he loaded his legs with as much energy as he could. Just before the train like thing could make contact with him, Ichigo released all the potential energy in his legs, projecting himself forward at such an astounding rate that he couldn't even control. In the process, he accidentally hit Yoruichi from behind, splattering the feline across his face. Everyone began screaming in terror as they were propelled forward into the air.

Soon, Ichigo found that the ground bellow him was no longer there and he still couldn't see anything that was going on around him due to the cat covering his plastered across his face. "Where's the ground?" he asked. The moment the question came out, everyone began plummeting towards the ground, once again, screaming in terror.

"Santen Kesshun!" yelled Orihime, "I reject." Right before everyone hit the ground, a triangle shaped barrier appeared beneath them giving them somewhat of a safe landing.

"Hu," exhaled Orihime in relief before bringing back her upbeat attitude. "Is everyone alright?"

Taking a look at around, everyone found themselves in quite an awkward position when they landed. With some miracle, Chad had found himself still standing on his feet. Yoruichi's body was sprawled on top of the triangular barrier. Ishida had face planted into the shield which resulted in him having his butt sticking up into the air. Ichigo. Well, Ichigo had landed on his back in a halfway, summersault position with his legs next to his head.

"Wah! Kurosaki's landing is so artistic!" exclaimed Orihime just after recovering from the fall.

"…That's not funny," Ichigo growned as he rolled upright and moved his mask to the top of his head.

"I didn't think… we would be this unprepared," said the Quincy. "This was totally unexpected." He reached inside his buttoned jacket to pull out yet another cape due to him losing the previous one in the Dangai. "I didn't think I would have to use the backup cape so soon."

Everyone's expression became deadpan with a sweatdrop as they stared at Uryu, all collectively thinking the same thing. "He even brought backups?"

While everyone's attention was on Uryu and his overpreparation, Yoruichi charged at Ichigo with a headbutt right into his nose. "Dumbass!" She shouted in anger and frustration.

Both of them curled up into ball with their hands covering the part that had collided with each other. "Ow ow ow," they both groaned as they curled up into a ball, covering the parts of their heads that had collided with each other.

"Oi," said the orange haired whose nose was completely red from the swelling of blood. "Are you okay?"

The black cat looked at the substitute soul reaper with tears accumulated on the corners of her eyes. "What the hell is your head made of?" Yoruichi said weakly.

"Screw you, you're the one that hit me."

Yoruichi gave the teen a glaring look, as if the reason behind her action was the most obvious in the world. "You put everyone's lives at risk Ichigo! You could have gotten yourself stuck with the rest of your friends, not to mention the possibility of seriously injuring them from the fall."

"Fuck you! How was I supposed to know all these things that Kisuke never told us about? Plus, he's the one that put us in that situation in the first place!"

A look of frustration gradually softened. "Just, don't get yourself killed, alright? You are much more important than you think you are."

"Ok… Wait, what do you mean by that?" he asked, but the cat just turned its head to another direction, refusing to answer. "Fine! You know what, be that way. I didn't care in the first place."

"Aw, isn't that sweet," said Orihime. "It's nice to see you guys are bonding."

Ichigo gave her a soft half smile as he got off his rear again, letting out a small snicker. "Yeah. Sure we are." He then turned to look around the locations that they had landed in. The area looked run down and abandoned with no one to see except for the group. It was practically a ghost town "So this is Soul Society, huh? Damn, even in death, people will never escape the invisible hands of Capitalism."

Yoruichi along with everyone else just gave Ichigo a weird look, wondering if his sanity was still after having a Hollow in him. "S… sure," said Yoruichi, "This is the outskirts known as Rukongai, where souls live when they first arrive here. It surrounds the Seireitei, where the soul reapers live. It is the poorest but most liberated place to live and also has the densest population of souls."

"Could have fooled me," Ichigo said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it. I can't see a single person here," said Uryu.

"Ah!" said the hollowfied soul reaper as he looked across the street. "That street over there looks way different from the one here."

"Oh, that's-"

"Oh, I got it!" Ichigo interrupted the cat of its explanation. "That's the Sei-whatever-it's-called place where the Shinigami live!" He then began running towards the different area with a confident, yet stupid smile on his face. "Alright, were already half way there!"

"W-What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Shouted the feline. "Don't approach that place so recklessly! You could die!"

"Huh?" Ichigo said unintelligently before a wall suddenly came falling from the sky landing directly in front of the thoughtless teen, almost crushing him in the process. Dust flew widespread from the impact of the walls touching down causing the group to shield their eyes .

"It's been a long time," said a deep, booming voice from the gate, "since someone has tried to come through the Gate of the Seireitei without a pass." As the dust cleared the teen found himself standing directly in front of a literal giant.

"The Hell?" thought Ichigo as he stared at the large human. A lot of questions began rising from the teen.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to take good care of you, little boy." A cocky smirk crept across the large man's face. He then slammed his massive axe in a manner of intimidation right next to Ichigo causing more dust to pick up. The large man laughed arrogantly. "Come on, attack from any way you'd like, Boy."

"Where can I get one?"

"Excuse me?" the large man questions, a bit confused as to what the teen was asking.

"You said I needed a pass. Where can I get one?"

"Is he seriously asking that?" Everyone collectively thought in utter disbelief.

"Oh, well, you go down the road for about three hundred meters."

"Uh huh," Ichigo said, nodding his head.

"Then you turn left on the wide road that leads to a large temple-like building."

"Okay," Ichigo nodded again.

"Then you go down about two-hundred meters and it should be the large, white building on the left."

"Got it. Thanks for the help, see you soon," the teen said, giving a wave to the giant man.

If the group couldn't believe what they had heard before, they certainly couldn't believe what they were hearing now. "Did that just seriously happen?"

As Ichigo began to walk in the direction that the large man had instructed him to do so, he had only managed to take five steps before a giant axe came crashing down in front of him. "You almost had me fooled there for a second, but I can see that mask on your head. You are a Hollow, and as a guard of the Seireitei, I cannot allow a creature like you to exist in this world."

Ichigo, visibly displeased with the fact that he had almost been hit by a giant axe, turned and glared at the large man, blocking his way. "Now, did you have to go be like that?"

Yoruichi let out a sigh of somewhat relief. "Ho, I'm so glad that he isn't as stupid as I thought he was," she thought to herself.

"Excuse me, Yoruichi," spoke Uryu. "But who exactly is this guy?"

"That is Jidanbou," answered Yoruichi, "He is one of the elites of Soul Society and the guardsman for one of the four Great Seireitei Gates. He is the one that guards."

"Guardsmen? So that means we have to get past this monster in order to get into the Seireitei?"

"Correct, but that is no simple task. After all, he's been a guardian for over three hundred years. To this day, no one has ever pasted him."

A nervous sweat began to fall from the Quincy's face. "Is he really that strong?"

"Yes. One swing from that axe and then you're gone. He's like the legendary Hercules."

"Then how do we cope with such a giant?"

"It's all about the mental work." The cat brought its attention back to the other teen at the gate. "Retreat Ichigo! We need to come up with a plan!" Suddenly, all the other members of the rescue group charged head first towards the giant. "What did I just say!" shouted the cat in anger.

Jidanbou took notice of this and lifted his axe to slam it, once again, into the ground. The impact shattered the earth around it as pieces of ground lifted up and out from the surface forming a barrier that Orihime and Chad could not climb over.

"Your behavior sickens me. Are you from a uncivilized area?" Jidanbou said using his size to look down on the humans. "Listen carefully. This city has three rules. First, wash your hands when you come back home. Second, don't eat food off the ground. Third, a duel is always one-on-one." He brought his attention back to Ichigo. "My first opponent will be the spiky haired triangle eyed kid."

"Oi." A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's head from the way his opponent described him.

"Until I am finished with him. You will standby quietly. Since you are visitors here, you should follow the rules of the owners."

Orihime was disheartened to hear this information. "Orihime." She heard a faint whisper from Chad. "I'll make a hole in the wall and you use that time to attack"

"What are you trying to do? Planning on a sneak attack?" said the gate keeper as he looked towards the classmates.

"He heard!" they both thought.

"Hey Chad! Orihime!" shouted Ichigo from the other side of the wall.

"Kurosaki-kun! Are you okay?" Orihime asked worryingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hold on, we're on our way."

"That's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about." This raised Orihime's curiosity. "You and Chad just stay where you are. Don't do anything, alright?

"What are you talking about? If-"

"Don't worry about it. Just wait there."

"What are you talking about!" shouted Uryu. "You've seen for yourself just how powerful Jidanbou is! I don't care what kind of training you received in those ten days, he is not the opponent for you to handle by yourself."

There was silence for a little bit before Ichigo responded. "That's hurtful, Ishida."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"It means that you hurt my pride by thinking that I can't beat a person like this. Now you got my instincts all riled up, and they're telling me to prove you wrong." He began rubbing his neck. "Besides, I think it's time to show you what I've learned in the past ten days." Ishida's eyebrows raised along with everyone else's as Ichigo explained further. "I was supposed to recover my powers in ten days, but I actually regained them in three. With the remaining seven days, I did nothing but fight nonstop no matter what how exhausted I was against Kisuke and his stupid hat.

"Oh. So he taught you all the skills of battle?"

"Pfft, he wishes he could take that kind of credit!"

"What?"

"He didn't teach me jack shit, but…" He gathered an astonishing amount of spiritual pressure. "from all that training, I became armed with two deadly weapons." His yellow irises began to glow brightly, as if a fired had suddenly ignited inside them. "Courage, and a shit ton of stamina."

"I've wasted enough time waiting for you Hollow." Jidanbou raised his axe high over his head. "I'm going to end you right now." He brought down his zanpakuto with a mighty swing that could bring down buildings, only to have it be stopped by a loud clanging sound. Suddenly, the gatekeeper began to sweat as he saw that his opponent had stop the attack dead in its tracks with his own zanpakuto.

"Rule number one from Kisuke: Don't announce your attack," Ichigo criticized, glaring at the large man with indifference in his eyes.

They were at a stalemate as neither one of them budged. Out of nowhere, the large gatekeeper began to laugh hysterically. "Wahaha! Not bad kid. It's been so long since someone could block my attack." His expression then became serious. "Finally, I can use all my strength." He raised his axe one more time directly over the head of Ichigo so that it overshadowed the teen. "Until now, only three people have ever been able to block my axe. But the number of people who survive my second... are none." With yet another mighty swing, the axe came hurdling down onto the teenager, kicking up more dust in the process which shrouded the teen.

"Listen Jidanbou. I don't want to be rude or anything, but your attitude is really starting to piss me off." The dust settled down to reveal Ichigo keeping up the large axe in his hand. "Can we wrap this up?"

"I'm not finished with you yet!" He pulled his axe back once more. "Juppon Jidanda Matsuri!" He then began to repeating slam his zanpakuto down at the ground counting each time he did. "One. Two. Three. Four…" he continued on up until he reached ten where he sliced his axe horizontally destroying the barrier that he created to keep the others from interfering.

"You finished?" Ichigo still stood in the same place, no longer using his Zanpakuto, but with his hands instead. "This is getting boring."

"It's still too early!" Jidanbou pulled out a second axe from his shihakusho and raised both high into the air. "Take this! Banzai Jidanda Matsuri!" With all his might, the giant brought down his hand intending to utterly crush the masked Shinigami.

Ichigo wordlessly wound back his right fist before throwing it into the side of the massive axes, completely shattering them into pieces in the process.

The force of impact was so great that it sent the giant flying off his feet, and landing on his back. A confused look fell upon the giant as he looked up. He then flipped himself back. "Phew, that was dangerous!" exclaimed the large man. "I got distracted there for a second, then I find myself completely knocked down!" He brought his attention back to Ichigo who was staring at him with an expression that said, "are you kidding me?"

"What's with that expression?" Jidanbou continued, "Do you really think you that you have defeated me? HA! Don't be ridiculous, there's not a chance in the could be defeated by the likes of you!" Ichigo remained silent as he was trying to figure out what Jidanbou was trying to do.

"This is why I hate the uncivilized people. Hold on, I will now take you down with my…axe…" It was at that moment when he realized that his zanpakuto to was utterly shattered. He looked at his other axe and proceeded to look back and forth towards his two broken weapons. "My axe? Where is my axe?" Tears stared to build up in eyes as reality hit him like a bus.

"You okay, dude?" asked Ichigo.

Jidanbou suddenly began slamming his fist into the ground and whaling like a child whose parents did let him by the toy he wanted. "It's broken! You bastard! It's all your fault! You stupid Hollow!"

A sweat drop fell upon the teenager's head. "Great. Now I just feel bad," he sighed to himself. "Um… sorry about you axe. I didn't mean anything ill by it." He gave a slight bow of apology. "I shouldn't have done that." He looked back up to the crying giant before clarifying one more thing. "Also, I'm not a Hollow. Well, technically speaking. See, I don't have the hole in my chest."

This only made the giant cry harder. "You're right! You're such a good guy! I lost the battle but you still care about me! You have such a generous personality! Unlike me, what am I doing? Crying like a baby because someone broke my axe!" The large man stood up. "I've completely lost both as a fighter and as a man!"

After a while his crying began to settle down as he wiped away his tears. "I have been the gatekeeper of the West Gate for three hundred years. I have never lost a battle. But you utterly destroyed me. I Jidanbou, grant you my permission to pass through the gate."

"Whoa, seriously!" said Ichigo is surprise.

"Are you sure you can do that!" asked the Quincy who was still recovering from being hit by a piece of axe.

"Yes. Your boss defeated me. A loser like me will not be able to stand in your way."

"There is no way this guy is my boss!" Uryu shouted pointing at the gray clad soul reaper.

"Why are you so defensive?" Ichigo asked.

"Your name… is Kurosaki, correct?" said the now gentle giant.

"Yup, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo, huh? What a cute name," he said, not thinking much of it.

"That's not what it means! Ichi means One and Go means Protect! They are two separate Kanji!" protested the orange haired teen.

"Why so defensive Kurosaki?" mocked Uryu with a sneering grin on his face.

"You stay out of this!"

Jidanbou then brought the attention back to him as he placed his hand on the gate. "Take care of yourself Ichigo. I don't know the reason why you want to get through. The people inside are very powerful."

"We know." A look of complete determination filled the teenagers' eyes as they stared anxiously at the gate.

"I see… Then you better prepare when I open the gate. Don't hesitate. Rush in as fast as you can." He then proceeded to lift the gate with a roar, using every ounce of his strength. Suddenly, he fell silent upon the gatekeeper as bullets of sweat were squeezing of every pore. Behind the gate stood a slim, teal haired man with narrow eyes, a foxlike smirk on his face, and a white haori over his shihakusho that looked similar to Byakuya's.

"Who's this poser," said Ichigo in a nonchalant attitude. "Look's important."

"Captain of the third squad, Gin Ichimaru," said the giant man as his eyes were fixated in fear by the man's presence.

"No no no, this will never do." Said the captain with a flamboyant, but sly kind of voice. In less than a second, Jidanbou's arm when flying clean off. "You do realize that the job of a gatekeeper is to never open the door to anyone. Especially Hollows."

The giant let out a roar of pain as more and more blood spilled from his severed joint, practically raining on to the dirt ground. He then fell to one knee to on knee as he clenched in utter pain. Despite all this, Jidanbou stayed resilient to his word, still holding the gate open.

"Oh? You can still hold the door with one hand? No wonder you're one of the elites in the Seireitei. However, you still failed as a Guardian."

"Because I lost," Jidanbou muttered through his pain, "The guardian opens the door when he loses. It is only natural."

"What idiotic rules are you talking about?" The captain's gaze sent shivers down the gatekeeper's spin. "I think you misunderstood. Even if the gatekeeper loses, he must never open the door to anyone. If the gatekeeper lost, then that would mean…" A sudden rise of spiritual pressure pressed down on the group with an obvious feeling of malice. "He died protecting it."

Before Gin could make a move, Ichigo suddenly appeared before the Shinigami with his blade swooping in with a powerful strike from the side. The sound of metal clanged as Gin had managed to block the strike just before Ichigo's zanpakuto could do some serious damage. However, the Captain was unprepared for the force behind the attack as it had nearly knocked his own weapon right out of his hand and sent him skidding across the dusty ground.

"Hey asshole," Ichigo began, "Who the Hell do you think you are!" Gin remained silent in both confusion and amusement as the teen began ranting to him. "You can't just go killing your own teammates, that's super fucked up! Don't you have any form of common sense in your head?! I mean what the Hell!"

"Um-"

"Inoue!" Ichigo interrupted, not allowing the man to speak his mind. "Fix Jidanbou's arm!"

"O-Okay," she nodded in confirmation.

Ichigo tightened his grip on his weapon as he brought his attention back to the major threat. "If you're so eager to fight, then fight me. For a shit-stain like you who attacks an unarmed comrade so quickly… I'll be sure they won't recognize you when they find the body."

"Hmm. You're quite amusing Hollow. You actually have some form of empathy and emotion other than hunger."

"I'm not a Hollow!" retorted Ichigo in a childish pout.

Gin's smile faltered slightly form the response. "Why is he so defensive about it?"

"Ichigo, get out of there! We need to retreat!" Shouted Yoruichi, seriously concerned with the situation they had found themselves in.

The name Ichigo seemed to peak some interest in the teal haired captain as he examined the teen while he argued with the talking feline. "So… You're Ichigo Kurosaki?"

The hybrid's eyebrows raised in suspicion, "What's it to you?"

"More than you think. However, if that be the case, then I definitely can't let you pass."

"Yeah? What are you gonna do, come at me with your tiny knife?"

"It's not a knife." The captain quickly took a position with his zanpakuto hidden behind his white clock and his arm lifted at shoulder height. "Shoot to kill. Shinsou!" At a breakneck speed, the dagger extended, shooting straight towards Ichigo at a speed that almost no one could follow. Almost.

With one quick swipe of his arm, Ichigo redirected the angle of the shot to hit the side of the wall that guarded the Seireitei. "I've already seen your attack once. I won't let it get to me again."

The smile on Gin's face faltered slightly as he witnessed his attack get knocked away with almost little trouble. "How did you do that without your zanpakuto?"

A smirk formed on Ichigo's face. "It's a little ability I came across in my training. I call it Tetsuhada (Iron skin). I concentrated a high amount of spiritual energy into whatever part of my body and it hardens the skin until its durability is that of thick iron." Yoruichi then realized that the ability was the same one that made her head hurt when she bashed into Ichigo.

"Interesting, and here I thought that giving you distance would help you survive." The maniacal smile reappeared on the Captain's face. "Now I know I don't have to give you more time to block." As soon as he said that, he disappeared for a brief moment only to reappear directly in front of Ichigo. "Shoot to kill. Shinsou."

"Ah… Shit." The blade once again shot towards the teen, this time hitting him in the stomach. The attack had managed to pierce through Ichigo's thick hide, inflicting a minor wound on him as he was sent flying in the chest of Jidanbou, who had still been holding the gate open. Ichigo then slammed into the gatekeeper toppling him over and causing him to lose a grip on the gate's door.

Eventually, the two were sent into a building by Gin's blade, crushing one of the houses in the process. "Bye bye." The captain waved as the door banged shut leaving everyone outside.

Ichigo opened his eyes from being unconscious for a few seconds. He got up off the ground and dusted himself off a bit from the small pieces of house that landed on him. Once finished, he looked at his friends with a blank expression. He then looked to the gate, then back at his friends, then at the defeated Jidanbou, then back at his friends, then at his zanpakuto, then back at his friends.

Finally, he shouted in frustration at the top of his lungs, "THIS IS SO FUCKING LAME!"

Once again, sweat drops appeared on each member of the group's head.

"Are… Are you okay?" Asked Inoue with slight concern for her crush's sanity.

"I just got stabbed by an extendable kitchen knife into a giant man, and was sent sailing through a house! What do you think the answer to that question will be?"

A sad expression fell upon auburn haired girl as she realized how stupid her question was. "Sorry for asking," she responded.

Seeing the obvious hurt filled expression on his friend's face, the hybrid let out a sigh, disappointed in his inability maintain his composure. "No, it should be me apologizing. I shouldn't've yelled at you." He bowed apologetically to his friend. "I'm sorry."

A blush of embarrassment adorned at the sudden gesture, Orihime waved her hands frantically as she told Ichigo that he didn't need to do so much.

The teen stood back into his normal posture as he finally began to see people coming out of their houses after all the chaos that had unfolded. He then looked back at the gate. "So how are we going to get in now?"

"If you had been a bit less reckless," said Yoruichi, "I would have gotten to that part."

"… So?" asked the teen as he waited for an answer when Yoruichi paused leaving them both in silence.

A devilish smirk fell upon the cat's face. "Let's just say, I know a few people who can get us in."

Ichigo stared at the cat with a concerned look on his face. He then turned to his friends, and in a whispering manner said, "Are we seriously still taking orders from a cat?"

This earned him a clawing across his nose.


	4. Plan of Entry

The group of high schoolers and a cat all gathered around in a small hut as they rested from their long day. Orihime had spent almost the entire day putting back together Jidanbou's arm with the help of some of the villagers. It was no easy feat and she felt quite exhausted from the amount of energy she had exhibited during that time. Chad had found the boy who had been embodied as a parakeet named Shibata during this time and had a little bit of fun playing with him and his friends. Uryu… was doing his own thing, and Ichigo was helping out with rebuilding some of the brokendown houses he accidentally destroyed. Now it was time to talk strategy on their entry into the Seireitei tomorrow.

"Because the door has been opened, the security behind the wall has increase dramatically," explained Yoruichi as she sat next to Ichigo.

"So even if we were to open the gate again, we wouldn't get anywhere?" asked Uryu for confirmation.

"Breaking in was never really a good idea in the first place," She said as she eyed a certain someone in the room. Ichigo just pursed his lips and looked the other way, awkwardly avoiding eye contact from the cat.

"Why don't we try breaking in through the other gates?" asked Chad.

"There won't be much of a difference with those either. Besides, each one is ten days apart. So, if we can't go in through the gates, we'll just have to get in without using them." Everyone seemed slightly surprised by this proposal as they all looked at the cat in surprise.

"Okay, so is this the part where to tell us about this friend of yours?" questioned Ichigo, folding his arms in the process.

"Indeed," Yoruichi turned her attention to the village elder. "Do you know the location of Kukaku Shiba?" The name made the village elder become somewhat uncomfortable as his fist clenched slightly. Judging by his response, Yoruichi took his answer as a yes before continuing. "I understand she's someone who is always on the move. I haven't been able to find where she is living right now."

"Kukaku… Shiba." The elder's fists trembled at the hearing of the name. "Don't tell me you're planning to go through the wall with 'That'."

There was suddenly a small rumbling noise that grew louder and closer from outside. "What's that noise?" Ichigo asked as the sound began to pick up. He reached for his zanpakuto as the sound became uncomfortably close to their location.

The rumbling then stopped in an instant and soon after, a bandana wearing man was sent flying through the door, summersaulting into a face plant. A bizarre looking boar with a red bow on its back followed the man in.

"What the hell?" thought Ichigo as he stared at the tusked pig. "Why is there a pig?"

A grumble came from the person who had interrupted the group's meeting as he picked himself off the ground. He complained about something about being thrown off his Bonnie again as he dusted himself off. "Yo!" he finally said giving a casual salute to the village elder, "Long time no see old man!"

"Ganju! What are you doing here?! Go back home!" replied the elder.

"What's with that? I come here to visit after a long time and I get this as a greeting? Even our guests are shocked." He looked around to see the people in the house when he finally noticed Ichigo. There was an awkward tension in the air as Ganju was having a hard time with what he was seeing. He wore the attire of a Shinigami with a slight color adjustment, but had a Hollow mask covering his face. The two just stared kind of stared at each other as Ichigo awkwardly waited for a response.

Ganju then pointed his index finger at the teen and looked at the village elder. "What is this thing?"

"Nani?" Ichigo said passively, more surprised than agree at the ugly man's question.

"Oh, it can speak," said Ganju in surprise.

Ichigo clenched his fists as his blood boiled in rage. "Of course I can speak you primitive pig!"

The insult caused a tick mark to form on the pig rider's temple. "Who are you calling a pig you shitty Hollow, Shinigami thing?"

"I have a name you know," Ichigo said, doing his best to hold back his bubbling anger.

"Like I give a damn." Ganju walked up to Ichigo and took a good look at him. "You are everything I despise in the world!"

"Oh yeah?!" said Ichigo.

"Oh yeah!" replied Ganju. There was once again silence as the two continued their stare down. Suddenly the intruder grabbed Ichigo by the jaw and stared shouting, "Say something, you dandelion headed frea-!"

Ichigo slammed his fist into the face of the person invading his personal space sending him flying past the group of teenagers towards the entrance. "What the hell was that for?! Are you trying to pick a fight?!"

"That should be my line!" replied Ichigo through his grit teeth.

As the two continued to argue with one another, the elder just sighed in disappointment. "Just as I expected."

"Wait, what? Who is this guy?" asked Uryu.

"You don't know who I am?" said Ganju after eavesdropping on the Quincy's remark.

"I don't," began with Uryu.

"I don't either," said Orihime soon after.

"Nope," replied Chad.

"I don't care," stated Ichigo.

"Then it can't be helped," said the pig rider. "I'll tell you. I'm Ganju!" he began shouting. "Self-proclaimed Crimson Bullet of West Rukon District! Self-proclaimed the most 'want-to-call-you-big-brother' candidate for fourteen years running! And… Self-proclaimed West Rukon District Top Soul Reaper Hater!"

"Amazing, all of them are self-proclaimed!" thought the group in a disappointed manner.

"Pfft," snickered Ichigo as he covered his mouth, trying to contain his laughter, but failing miserably.

His chuckles caught the attention of Ganju who stared at him with a scowl. "What's so funny?"

Through his chuckles, Ichigo managed to form a sentence with his mouth still covering his face. "You're so lame."

"What was that?!" Shouted Ganju as he charged at Ichigo, tossing him through the door that the man had already knocked down.

"Ichigo!" shouted Orihime as the group chased after their friend.

"Hold up!" said one of Ganju's henchmen as they blocked the entry way. "We won't let you get in the way of Big Brother's fight."

"If you really want to get involved in this fight…"

"We'll be your opponents."

Back to Ichigo and Ganju, Ichigo found himself laying on the ground with Ganju scolding at him. "Get outta here!" he shouted. "While I'm alive, no Shinigami or Hollow will be allowed to step foot in West Rukon District!"

Ichigo didn't reply with any sort of retort. Instead, he just laid in his spot silently with his bangs covering his eyes. The air around them had suddenly become thicker, making it more and more difficult for everyone to breathe. Everyone could feel it, and it all came from one person.

Ganju, after a few seconds of struggling collapsed on one of his knees, sweating profusely from the struggle of staying upright from all the pressure exuding down on him. "What is this reiatsu?" he asked to himself aloud. It didn't take long before he finally fell to his knee. He had never felt this much power before in his life. The only thing that remotely came close to the fear he was feeling at that moment was from his older sister, and that was saying something.

Ichigo then decided to pick himself off the ground with his back turned to every before casually dusting himself off. He turned only his head so that Ganju could see half of his mask and one soul piercing yellow eye, glaring at him with a bloodthirsty look. It felt like the fiery pits of Hell had been embodied into one individual and was currently staring right at him.

The hybrid slowly began to walk towards the downed boar rider as the image of death became more and more apparent with each step Ichigo took. After a few steps, Ichigo stood towering over his attacker with an unreadable expression on his face. Ganju lifted his head to see the impending figure of Ichigo staring down at him.

"Ichigo, stop!" exclaimed Yoruichi. "You mustn't hurt this man!" Ichigo ignored the cat's pleads as he continued to torment the "Shinigami hater".

"You say that you will not allow a thing like me into this place as long as you're still alive. Yet here I am, standing above you as you kneel before me. Are you still willing to protect this place even when you know you're completely out matched?" A blood red vortex of reishi grew around the teen he stood like an emperor would when staring down a thief.

"Don't get cocky!" Ganju reached and unsheathed the sword, attempting to cut the Hybrid by the side. However, the blade came to an abrupt halt as the metal made a clang upon contact. Everyone froze to a silence as Ganju stared in disbelief at his blade, feeling the reminiscent vibration of the collision still trembling through his hands. His eyes could see that his blade had stopped, but his mind could not comprehend the idea. A sinking feeling of hopelessness grew in the man's chest as he dropped down to his knees. He looked up to the piercing yellow eyes and prepared himself for whatever was to come.

"Is that it?" Ichigo asked disappointingly as the intense aura suddenly dispersed. "Well that was rather boring. I'm going back inside to finish my tea." He then gave Ganju a pat on the back before turning back to the house

Everyone gave a puzzled look as the hybrid walked back. Ichigo had done a complete one hundred-eighty degree turn in terms of mood swings as they tried to figure out what had happened. Had Kisuke's constant mood shifts really rubbed off on the teen that much in the past ten days.

"Wait!" called Ganju. Ichigo turned his head so that the man could only see half of his face. "Why did you stop?"

This time Ichigo turned his body so that Ganju could see his whole face. "Why would I go through with it? Besides, didn't you say you were the older brother around here? They need someone to look up to, someone who they know will fight for them. I'm sure you had someone like that in your life before."

Ganju had found himself in a state of both shock and confusion. The longer he stared at him, the more he began to realize how much the teen looked like his own older brother. "Kaien," he said unconsciously as he sustained his look of shock.

"Though if I had one criticism, you better get your act together. Don't show the enemy your fear. The moment you do that, you've given them everything."

Ganju gazed with a new-found admiration to the man whom he thought was going to kill him not one minute ago. He hadn't felt respect for someone like this in a long time. He got up slowly, not seeing any rush to get anywhere anytime soon.

As he proceeded to dust himself off, a rather large alarm suddenly started to ring on the back of one of the boar riders. A sudden shiver went down Ganju's back as he realized what that meant. "Big Bro, we gotta go!" shouted one of his comrades. "It's already nine!"

"Shit, already! Come on Bonnie, let's go!" Ganju put his finger and thumb to his lips and let out a loud whistle. The large boar with a red bow came rushing out from the room, jumping a mere millimeter over Ichigo's head, just grazing off some of his hair before slamming it's head into its owner.

"Oi, are you okay?" asked Ichigo with mild concern.

"Nice job Bonnie, but we don't have time for that today. Hurry up and let me ride you!" A pissed off expression grew on the boar's face. The pig then rushed at full speed into the back of Ganju as he was sent flying into the air before landing on top of it while in a full-on sprint.

As the man was carried away, he waved goodbye as he shouted, "Oi! Thanks for the talk, Dandelion! I'll be sure to remember it for the rest of my life." He then disappeared into the darkness along with his fellow riders.

Ichigo looked at his friends with a look of confusion on his face. "What did he call me?"

 **The Next Morning:**

The group was as lively as ever as they pursued the mysterious person known as Kukaku Shiba. On their journey, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime were all imagining what this person would look like the entire way, arguing which one of their interpretations were more realistic. The conversation amused Yoruichi to no end as Inoue kept making creations that were certainly a stretch to the imagination. Ichigo, on the other hand, was growing ever more peeved at the fact that they had been walking for a least two hours and still hadn't come across anything.

"Hey, are you sure we're going the right way?" asked Ichigo. His question was ignored by Uryu who was carrying the map. "Hey, did you hear what I said?"

"Shut up!" shouted the Quincy in annoyance. "I'm just following the map that the elder gave us. According to 'it', our destination is supposed to be around here. If you have any complaints, you take the lead!"

"I'm not complaining," mumbled Ichigo as he continued to walk.

"Maybe the guy wants to keep his identity a secret, and that's why he wants to live in a place like this," Inoue added.

"That's not the case," countered Yoruichi. "It's just the person's nature… and personal preference. Don't worry. This person's always one the move, but the house they build is always the same. Once you see it, you'll recognize it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the carrot top.

"You'll know once you see it." The group walked in silence for a few seconds before Yoruichi said, "Oh, there it is."

"What?" said Ichigo as his eyebrow twitched, baffled by the sight before him.

"What is this?" said Uryu who was in the same exact state of shock upon seeing it.

"Wow! How cool!" exclaimed Orihime in an excited manner as she skipped towards the house

Chad just remained silent as he followed the bubbly girl and the cat.

There before them stood a traditional Japanese house with a blue roof and gray walls with two wooden doors acting as the entrance. However, that wasn't the thing that caught everyone's attention. On both sides of the house stood two pillars, shaped as arms holding up a red banner that read Shiba Kukaku. "See. I told you it only takes one time." The cat let out a small chuckle.

"That's not the problem here," thought Uryu in complete shock. "Wants to conceal his identity my ass. He's probably not allowed to live anywhere near the town because he built his house like that."

"That sounds more plausible," said Ichigo with a sweat drop on his face.

"Hmm," Yoruichi hummed, "so this time it's human arms holding the banner. Neatly done."

"He changes the motif each time?" the two teens thought.

"Alright, let's go," said the cat as it began to walk towards the building.

"Okay!" exclaimed Orihime as she and Chad followed the cat. Eventually, Ichigo got over the sight of the house and forced himself to walk up to the entrance. Uryu however, stood still from complete embarrassment of walking into the house.

"What's the matter? Hurry up!"

"Okay," he said reluctantly. As they continued to walk Ishida took note of the massive chimney behind the house. "That chimney is kinda big compared to the rest of the house. Huh, the tops closed off. Wonder why."

"Hold it!" shouted a voice from one of the arms. "Who goes there?!"

"Strangers!" said another voice from the other arm, "and one of them is a… Hollow?" The man became silent as he tried to figure out what Ichigo was.

"Is this gonna become a thing?" thought Ichigo.

The two men standing on the arms jumped down and landed in front of the group, blocking the entrance from the trespassers. Both were wearing stereotypical traditional Chinese clothing with one colored yellow, and the other white.

"Suspicious characters," said the yellow one. "I, Koganehiko…"

"And I, Shiroganehiko…" said the white one.

"Will not allow you to pass!" the said simultaneously.

"Be gone!" yelled Shiroganehiko.

"Or you will die right here!" followed up Koganehiko.

"Impressive," Ichigo said before turning to his friends. "Wonder how long it took them to get that down."

The two men suddenly took notice of the black cat that stood by Ichigo's legs as it pointed to itself. "Master Yoruichi!" they both cried.

 **Inside the House:**

"My sincere apologies," said Koganehiko as he led the group down a long stairwell. "We didn't know it was you, Yoruichi, and your companions. Please forgive our rudeness."

"That's alright. It's my fault for not notifying you beforehand," replied the black feline.

"Thank you! Such generous words from such a great personage!" Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Chinese dressed man turned and said, "Please wait here a moment."

Almost immediately after saying that, a female voice from the other side of the door called out, "Is it Kagonehiko?"

"Y-yes," he replied quickly, but hesitantly.

"… Seems like we have some rare guests. Hurry up and let them in!"

"Yes, right away Master Kukaku." He then opened the doors to reveal the person known by the name of Kukaku Shiba that they had been searching all morning. What surprised the group the most was that instead of a gruff samurai-like man sitting before them, it was a fairly young woman. Her clothing was very open, having no shame in showing off her large bust as well as her thighs.

"Yo. It's been a while, Yoruichi."

"I never said Kukaku was a guy," replied the black cat.

"Who are these kids?" asked the owner of the house.

"Before I answer that, I have a small favor to ask of you."

"That's usually the case when you try and find me." There was a silence as the two stared at one another. "Is it difficult?"

"Most likely."

A smirk grew across the woman's face. "It's been a long time since we talked like this. Alright then, tell me. I always love a good challenge."

After a few minutes of explaining what had happened and their backstory as to why the group was doing it, Kukaku took a puff of her smoke. "I see." She exhaled the smoke she in took. "Alright, I'll take on the job."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. If Urahara is involved, then I can't refuse even if I wanted to. However, while I trust you, I don't trust those kids of yours. I'll include one of my henchmen to keep an eye on them. Especially you." She pointed towards the Shinigami, Hollow hybrid.

"No, yeah, that seems fair. Single out the minority why don't you," said Ichigo with a heavy hint of sarcasm. "Now about this henchman of yours.

"Yeah. Well he's actually my kid brother." Kukaku began walking to the door on her right. "He's still a brat and not that useful." Once she was at the door, she began to shout. "Hey, are you ready?"

"Yeah, just one minute," said a voice from behind the door.

"I'm opening the door, so behave."

"Y-Yeah!" Once the door was opened, there on his knees, bowing, was a familiar man with a bandana and a yellow over coat. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ganju Shiba." The man raised his head. "Please take care of me…" his sentence fell flat as he opened his eyes to see a group of very familiar face staring back at him.

There was an awkward silence for a moment before the Shiba bowed once again this time more of a sincere apology than anything else. "Sorry for all the trouble I caused you last night. I was acting like a complete idiot and I deeply regret harassing you and your friends. Please forgive me."

Ichigo just waved his hands in front of him as he humbly said, "D-Don't worry about it. You learned something from it and that's all that matters."

"You two know each other?" asked Kukaku.

"But I insist," said Ganju with his to the ground as he slammed his head against the floor with his bow. "I've learned from your words and I will live by them every day from this point on."

"Ganju!" Ichigo snapped, getting the man to calm down and listen. "We are equals now. You don't need to bow your head to me. Let's be friends, okay? None of this 'respect' crap."

The younger Shiba looked up with a dazed expression as the words processed in his mind. "Alright," he finally said. "Then let's get this show going, shall we, Dandelion?"

"It's Ichigo."

Kukaku was in a complete daze as she saw her little brother sincerely apologizing to someone without having to ask him to. This made her somewhat aggravated as Ganju was showing just as much, if not more genuine respect for this teenager in a few seconds than she gets in a week. Letting her emotions get the best of her, she stormed up to Ichigo and put him in a chokehold with the side of his face mushed against her sideboob. Though it couldn't be seen from behind the mask, Ichigo's face was lit up like a tomato from the position he was in.

"You're coming with me," she said. Kukaku then dragged him outside of the room and closed the door behind them with her feet. The rest of the group just stood and looked at each other in a confused manner.

"Please be gentle!" Ichigo whimpered as the one-armed lady pinned him to a wall.

"What did you do to my brother?" she demanded in a threatening tone.

"Oh thank God," Ichigo let out a sight of relief, "You know for a second there, I thought you were going to-"

"What. Did you do. To my brother?" she said, this time with more anger in her voice.

"I don't follow."

"He never apologizes for anything unless I force him too, and yet here he is, on his knees begging for your forgiveness. What's your secret? Did you give him some food? Buy him a drink? Why does he have so much respect for you?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was just being nice to him?" His answer earned him another grapple around the neck, finding himself in the same position he was before, with his head pressed against the side of Kukaku's breast.

"Bullshit! Ganju isn't the type of person to just suddenly pick up a role model, especially from one that looks like a Shinigami, Hollow, thing like you. Now tell me what's your secret, Carrot Top." Her grip around his neck tightened as he began to lose oxygen in his lungs. "Tell me! Tell me now!"

It was all happening too fast for Ichigo as his head began to spin from the lack of air and from blushing so much due to his head being pressed into the side of Kukaku's large breast. Finally, his heart and lungs couldn't take it anymore. "Why… me…?" With that his body fell limp in the woman's arms.

It didn't take long before she noticed that the teen had suddenly stopped struggling. "Oi, kid," she said as she shook his unconscious body. "You alright? Kid?"

The door behind her slid open as the people from the other room came to see what all the commotion was about. They all saw the teen's body drooping lifelessly in the woman's arms as they both looked at each other, then back at Ichigo.

"I didn't do it," said Kukaku as she released Ichigo from the chokehold, letting his body cartoonishly flop to the floor with a loud thud, shattering his mask in the processes. "That's gonna hurt when he wakes up," Kukaku thought, not even needing to look at the collapsed body.

"AAH!" Ganju shouted as he put both of his hands on his head. "What did you do to Ichigo?!"

"I-I can explain," she insisted.

"Ichigo!" Yelled the auburn girl of the group in apprehension as she panicked alongside Ganju.

"Why did you kill Kurosaki," the Quincy accused the busty woman as he created a bow from his powers and aiming it at Kukaku.

Chad just let out a growl as he transformed his right arm into battle mode out of anger.

"Everyone shut up!" Everyone shut up. "He's not dead," said the red and white cladded Shiba. "Just unconscious."

There was another pause as everyone took a sigh of relief that their friend hadn't gone yet. Then rage raised again in one person in particular due to the action that their host had done to her friend.

"What's the big idea, hurting Ichigo like that?!" shouted Orihime which caught almost everyone off guard as she rushed up to the woman, puffing her chest to press it dominantly against Kukaku's despite being several inches shorter. "He never did anything to you!"

The attitude from the typically bubbly girl had surprised everyone, especially the Shiba woman. Not really wanting to angering the girl any further. "Fine, jeez. I'm sorry I knocked out your boyfriend."

That one word had struck a chord with Orihime as her face grew red hot, like a chili pepper. "B-B-B-Boyfriend!" she shouted out in embarrassment, "H-He's not my b-boyfriend!" She denied, shaking her head aggressively to try and rid her mind of the embarrassment. "Never mind that. I want you to apologize to him the moment he wakes, and you will wait next him until then, and I will wait next to you to see it for myself."

"What?! No way!" Shiba yelled back in utter refusal.

"Yes way!"

"I'm not doing something stupid like that!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Listen kid, you're really getting on my nerves, and I'm not in the mood for your shit."

"I don't care! I'm gonna keep annoying you until you do it!"

As the two continued their bickering, Yoruichi walked up to Ichigo's laying body to check if there was any other bodily harm on the body. The cat place its paw on top of Ichigo's forehead only to feel that it was abnormally hot, like he had come down with some kind of fever. Recollecting all the events that led up to his unconscious state, she remembered how Kukaku had smothered the teen's face into her breast.

"Both of you shut up!" snapped the cat, causing both of them to stop their arguing. "Kukaku, I should inform you before you go and do anything rash to the boy that he is a very innocent boy. He doesn't have the experience with intimacy of the opposite sex, and the way you dragged him away didn't help the situation. He's only just hitting puberty."

Kukaku, now realizing her mistake, let out a sigh. "Sorry, I guess I did go a bit overboard."

A pleased look came across Orihime's face which didn't go unnoticed by the black feline. "You're not in the right either Orihime." This comment surprised the girl as she looked at her teacher in confusion. "You shouldn't be so rude to our host who generously gave us a way to get into the Seireitei. Plus, she didn't have any knowledge about the conditions of Ichigo nor could she have known them in the first place. You can't yell at her over something she didn't know."

Embarrassment and shame fell on the girl's face as her head hung slightly down in shame. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," she apologize quietly with a bow. "I also got a little carried away. Please forgive me."

Kukaku just smiled. "Ah, it's alright. Let's just move on from this, like it never even happened." Orihime nodded in agreement as her warm smile grew back on her face. "Alright!" said Kukaku "Let me show you guys how you're gonna get into the Seireitei."

"Right, and after that, you can apologize to Ichigo," said the cat with a grin on its face. The Shiba grumbled, irritated by the comment, but made no sign of disregarding the idea.

 **That Evening:**

Kukaku sat beside the sleeping Ichigo, cross legged and with her cheek resting in her hand. After a quick explanation of how the group was going to get into the Seireitei, she had nothing better to do than to wait for the boy to wake up. A sake cup rested next to her with only half of it filled with the alcoholic beverage. "Ah man, this is so boring," she said, leaning her head back.

"Then maybe you shouldn't've made him to faint," responded Yoruichi from behind her.

"Excuse me for not knowing that Mr. Pure-of-Heart over here was going to freak out over touching my boobs," countered Kukaku.

This earned a small laugh from the cat as she walked over to Ichigo's bedside. "He's quite adorable don't you think?" The Shiba raised an eyebrow at the comment.

"Yeah, I guess he's nice to look at."

The cat shook her head. "I meant him as a person. He's always trying to protect those he cares about regardless of the danger. Though his methods are unusual, the way he tries to help people is quite endearing. Even though I only met him yesterday, I feel obligated to whatever cause he would pursue." The two sat quietly, staring at Ichigo's face for a few seconds. "But yes, I guess you could say he's quite attractive."

"How old is he, eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Seriously?! Damn. He looks mature for his age."

"Well, if there's one thing he's good at, its breaking boundaries. Speaking of which, why the Hollow mask?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself, though I suppose it has something to do with the attack on his mother all those years ago. It may have manifested along with his Shinigami powers."

The two just stared at Ichigo's face for a while as they considered Yoruichi's idea. "He kind of looks like Kaien, don't you think?"

A sinking feeling dropped in the woman's heart upon hearing her brother's name. A frown stretched down her face as her pain became all to visible to Yoruichi. "He… certainly has a few of his features," she replied weakly.

Realizing that she had accidently step on a landmine, she decided it would be best to let her friend be for a while. "Sorry for bringing him up. I'll take my leave."

With that, the cat walked out of the room, once again leaving Kukaku alone with Ichigo. Though she had completely accepted her brother's death, there was a sliver of hope that Ichigo was some form of reincarnation of him. How else could anyone explain the similarities in basically every physical part of him? But alas, she even she knew that it was unlikely.

After a few seconds of calming her emotions, Kukaku calmed herself down. She opened her eyes to look back at Ichigo as a sad smile fell upon her lips. "He _does_ kind of look like Kaien."

Suddenly, a white liquid excreted from the back of his head and wrapped around his face, molding into the same designed mask that broke before. The teen's yellow eyes opened soon after the mask took shape. He turned his resting head to see Kukaku sitting beside him which was a pleasant surprise to him. "Oh, Hi Kukaku." He then that her eyes were a little bit puffier and watery. He shot up from his futon as he gave a concerned look towards his host. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said clearing her throat. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You look tired. Did something happen while I was out?"

"No. Nothing happened. I just was waiting for you to wake up. I want to apologize for knocking you out. My behavior was uncalled for and I'm sorry for acting the way I did."

"Oh right, that thing you did with your…" He trailed off, as his mind wandered to the moments before everything went dark. A light blush glowed on his cheeks at the thought. Though it could not be seen from under the mask, the sudden silence and the discomfort radiating off the teen made it a little too obvious.

"Oh?" spoke in a teasing manner as she leaned forward a little more to show more of her skin. "So you remember that, you sick pervert?"

"No!" Ichigo responded nervously. "That's the worst thing I can remember a person by!"

Kukaku chuckled from the comment as she saw Yoruichi's words take shape in Ichigo's reaction. "Alright then," she said as she ruffled the strawberry's hair in an older-sisterly manner, "come with me. I need to fill you in on the plan tomorrow and catch you up on making that cannonball."

"Cannonball?"

"Yeah," she said as she reached for the door. "We're gonna shoot you out of a cannon."

"Sounds dangerous," Ichigo said passively.

A small laugh escaped Kukaku's lips as she opened the door. "Oh yeah," she said, "sorry about earlier. I didn't know you were that into my boobs." Ichigo turned red hot from the statement as steam seemed to flow off of his head. He then began to mumbling something that Kukaku couldn't quite hear. She just laughed at his reaction. Just as she was about to leave the room, she stopped to look back to say one last thing. "Yoruichi was right." She caught Ichigo's attention again. "You really are adorable."

A lot of questions were running through Ichigo's head. What did she mean by cannon? What happened while he was asleep? What did Kukaku mean by adorable? Why did Yoruichi think I was adorable? Is he gay? Why is a cat gay for me?

This train of thought was interrupted when Kukaku started to shout at him "Come on! We ain't got all day! Get your ass moving!"

"Hai!" Like a soldier following his commanding officer's orders, Ichigo shot out of his mattress and dashed out the door.

Kukaku watched and smiled at the energy of the teen as he ran out the door. "He certainly is an interesting kid," she thought to herself. "I should probably catch up to him before he gets himself lost."

It took him only ten seconds for him to get lost in the labyrinth that was the Shiba's underground house. Every single door looked the same as the last, and yet despite feeling like he had just run in a circle, he was in a completely different area from before. "Where the fuck am I?" thought Ichigo.


	5. First Contact

After about twenty minutes of wandering aimlessly throughout the place, Ichigo was finally found by Kukaku and was taken to the training location of his friends where they practiced molding their spirit energy into spheres to penetrate through Soul Societies barrier. As they walked, Ichigo was informed about the plan of entry, the cannon, and the barrier known as the Sekki-Seki that surrounded the Seireitei. Soon they arrived at the door. "Okay," said Kukaku, "any questions Ichigo?"

"How are you not on some watch list in Soul Society?"

"Why do you think we move a lot?"

Ichigo pondered at the retort for a few seconds as he stared blankly the pyrotechnic. "Hmm. Fair enough." He looked curiously at the basketball sized translucent orb resting in his hands. It was a bit heavy, like a glass sphere and probably would hurt if it was thrown at you square in the face. He tossed it from side to side, juggling it in his hands for a little while. "So all I have to do is put my spiritual energy into this?"

"That's right," Kukaku nodded. "Be careful though. If you don't focus it could explode."

"R-Right," Ichigo nervously said as beads of sweat appeared on his face. Kukaku could only giggle at the teen's uneasiness to the information. She opened the slide door to the room, allowing entry for the two.

"Ichigo!" Orihime exclaimed with excitement as she saw her crush standing at the entrance, "You're okay!"

"Yeah." Ichigo rubbed his head sheepishly with a grin on his face. "I don't quite remember the details before passing out besides the fact that I found it very hard to breathe and that Kukaku was involved." A crossed look appeared on his face while finishing his sentence. He tried to recollect the moments before passing out, but he couldn't remember anything, which was probably for the better. "Other than that, I don't remember anything."

"Thank goodness," sighed Orihime with her hand over her chest in a whisper so quiet, only she could hear it. She was relieved that Ichigo didn't remember the experience of being squeezed into their hostess's breasts. Orihime then clapped her hands cheerfully on the left side of her face. "Well, I guess you better start practicing then. I'll be cheering for you."

Uryu pushed up his glasses in his typical, snarky fashion. "Everyone else is already finished."

"What?! You serious? How long was I out for?"

"About six hours," informed the Quincy.

A chill ran down Ichigo's spine as he realized how much time he had wasted. "Oh… shit." In a panicked state, he clasped the orb between his two hands and focused all his energy into it. By doing so, he accidentally put too much of his energy into the sphere as the barrier began to grow to an exponentially large size instantly. The unsuspecting people in a close proximity around him were hit by the barrier and sent flying into a wall. Those people were Kukaku, Uryu, and Koganehiko. Realizing his mistake, he turned his attention to the people who got hit by the barrier. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Dumbass," shouted Kukaku while being stuck inside the wall. "Don't lose focus or it will-" Before she could finish her sentence, the bubble popped creating a massive explosion with everyone caught in the cross fire. ***BOOM*** It shook the entire place sending everyone flying backwards, and destroying a lot of the interior of the house sending debris in every which way.

After the explosion had settled down, everyone lifted themselves back up lifting, or dusting off the broken pieces of house that laid on them. Smoke sizzled off the wooden floor, blocking the view of the epicenter of the explosion. There stood Ichigo, unscathed, with a fearful look on his face as he looked around to see if his friends were alright. "Is everyone okay?"

Just then a fist slammed into the back of his head sending his face into the floor, cracking some of the wooden planks as his mask smashed into them. "Look at what you've done to my house!" Kukaku yelled angrily with her hand balled up into a fist. "You practically destroyed the entire place!" She then planted her foot into the downed hybrid and started grinding it into the back of Ichigo's head causing him to grumble in pain. "Now I have to move all over again, no thanks to you! Didn't I tell you that this would happen!"

"Y-Yeah, you did," muffled the teens voice as his face was still plastered on the ground.

While his older sister was beating up the carrot top, Ganju and the rest of the gang could only stare at the teen in amazement. Not only had he managed to create the barrier on his first try, created it to the same size as the room. However, that wasn't what Ganju was so surprised about. What really astonished him was the fact the Ichigo, was unharmed by the explosion. Typically, when the barrier pops from lack of concentration, the person inside experiences much, much more pain than those who are affected on the outside. After seeing how much damage the house took on the outside, he could only imagine how much more power was behind the blast on the inside. Not only that, but to see Ichigo completely intact, let alone undamaged left him utterly astounded.

After a minute of relentless aggression on Ichigo's skull, Kukaku finally lifted her foot off the kid. "You're going to have to repay me in some way after this," she said which was answered with a grunt from Ichigo. He quickly picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. "Guess my skin can take a lot more spiritual energy than this orb," Ichigo said to himself with a half smirk on his face.

"What do you mean?" Ganju said, curious about the comment.

"Well you see, during my training with Kisuke, I came across this ability during one of my many near death experiences. I can carry a large amount of spiritual energy into a certain location on my body. That part of my body then hardens making it much more difficult to cut through. I applied that same idea into creating the barrier, but unfortunately, it was more than I had intended." Ganju just nodded his head with pursed lips, understanding the problem of the issue.

"I guess that means that everyone is ready for launch," said Yoruichi. "Let's do a little debriefing before we begin though."

* * *

 **Outside, Early Morning:**

"Huh, so that chimney was the cannon. I'm both surprised, yet not," said Ichigo. The sun had yet to rise meaning that most of the area was still dark. He then looked around to notice they were one person short. "Where the hell's Ganju?"

"Right here!" shouted the man who Ichigo had just mentioned. His attire was different now. He wore a vest that was an avocado green instead of his bizarrely patterned yellow shirt he wore before. He also had wrist guards on each arm and carried a long sheet of folded paper. He was breathing heavily as though he had been in a rush beforehand. "The Hero always arrives last."

There was an awkward silence as everyone stared with a deadpan face at the now self-proclaimed "Hero" of the group. "Right," Uryu said emphasizing the "r" to indicate the how lame that whole spiel was. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah," said Kukaku with the same attitude and expression on her face. Her hand then slammed against the base of the cannon, opening a slot for everyone to enter. "Alright. Get in." Everyone followed suit.

Now everyone was settled in and ready for their invasion to commence. "Listen," began Yoruichi, "once we get into the Seireitei, don't get separated no matter what. If you run into a captain, run away without a moment's hesitation. Our objective is to save Rukia and that's it. You must, under no circumstances, take unnecessary risks."

From outside, daybreak had already arrived as Kukaku began her chant to launch the cannon. She pulled her sword from her sheath and stabbed it into the concrete bases of the launch pad. "Beyond!" she shouted, "Bronze colored greed desires thirty degrees of control!"

"It's begun!" shouted the cat. "Pour in our spirit energy!" Everyone began to release their energy into the glass orb, creating the barrier in the process.

"Seventy two pairs of Illusions!" Kukaku continued, "Thirteen pairs of Horn Hlutes!" She undid the white bandages that covered most of her head as it wrapped tightly around her arm as she kept going. "Right hand of the Monkey, grasps the Stars!" Her entire arm caught fire as she raised it high over her head and smashed it right into the circle of oil she painted that surrounded the cannon. The oil caught fire and grew to four feet in the air. "Embraced by twenty five Suns, the cradle of sand will spill blood." The flames reconciled as they came back to Kukaku's arm, then formed a straight line up the side of the cannon. "Kakaku fire method number two. Kagizaki!"

The cannon then finally shot the group out, straight up, into the air, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. "You did it Kukaku-dono!" shouted Koganehiko in excitement. "It's a success," said his brother.

Kukaku just stared up into the sky as she watched the cannonball disappear into the morning sky with a worried expression. "You two be careful and be sure to come back safe, Ganju, Ichigo."

* * *

 **Inside the Cannonball:**

Ichigo watched as the ground got further and further away from him. "Hmm, I was expecting more of an impact."

"We haven't gotten to the hard part yet," said Ganju. The sphere then changed course from straight up, to sideways, a ninety degree angle compared to before. And boy did it change course fast. Everyone was a bit startled by the sudden change as everyone started to yell a bit in confusion. It was then when Ganju pulled out the folded pieces of paper he was carrying from before.

"What's that?" asked Ichigo.

"It's the continuation spell. Kakaku fire method is a two-part chant. The time from launch until choosing the direction is controlled by the beginning spell, and after that, acceleration and trajectory adjustments are controlled by the continuation spell. That way you bring up the accuracy of each."

"Oh, so you just gotta read the chant?"

"Yes, and please don't bother me while I'm at it."

"Okay."

"Oh, there's one other thing I need to tell all of you. In order to break into the Seireitei, we need to stabilize this cannonball. We have to regulate everyone's spirit power emission levels uniformly. Now, while you touch this, you can feel the others' emission level. I need each of you to regulate yourselves to match the others. If we mess up, it's all over. I'm counting on you guys." Everyone nodded their heads in confirmation.

"Kakaku fire method number two! Continuation spell! Ties of the Three Sparrows, ties of the Four Dragons, blocking the five direction, returning the six ri. Heavenly Wind, the Drunkard, Spoon, Cane of Elm-" (I kid you not, that is the actual dialogue)

"Kurosaki-kun," said Orihime, squinting a bit, "your emitting a bit too much."

"Sorry, hang on." He took a deep breath as he attempted to try and control his output.

"Kurosaki, lower it more," Uryu said in a demanding tone.

"Are you kidding me? I decreased it so much." He lowered it a bit more.

"Ichigo," said Chad.

"You can't be serious?!"

The group continued to dispute, Ganju continued the chant. Gradually at some point, both underlapped each other as Ganju accidentally said the same line twice. "Goddamnit!" shouted the Shiba. "You guys made me say the same line twice!"

"I'm trying, okay!" retorted Ichigo.

"Try harder!"

"Oi, over there." Everyone's attention turned towards Chad as he indicated that their destination was quickly approaching.

"The Seireitei," said Ganju in slight astonishment.

"We're going to hit it!" pointed out Uryu.

"No choice now," said Yoruichi. "Everyone, pour all of your spirit energy." Following the black cat's orders, everyone poured as much spirit energy as they could into the orb just before the cannonball collided with the Seireitei's barrier. The cannonball stopped dead in its tracks creating a massive surge of energy between the clashing forms of energy.

"Come on, go through you piece of shit!" yelled Ichigo in a roar of adrenaline.

As though the gods heard his call, the cannonball passed through the shield, but dissipated as they got in. Though they made it in, no one was falling from the lack of ground beneath their feet. "Everyone, get a hold of someone!" shouted the cat. "Right now, the cannonball has hit the shield and is dissolving, and they are momentarily-" A sudden surge of power began to send the group into a spiral as they were swung left and right before they even knew it. "The process has accelerated?" questioned Yoruichi.

Everyone grabbed hold of the person nearest to them when an explosion suddenly sent the groups two flying in every which direction. As Ichigo looked at who he managed to grab hold of, he saw that he was grasping Orihime by the wrist. "Oh, hey," he said nonchalantly.

"Hold on Ichigo!" she said as she moved ahead of the orange hair teen. Lifting her hand forward she said, "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily." Three beams of energy shot from her hair pin and formed a triangular shield in front of them. "Sacred Tri-link Shield. I Reject!"

"Oh no," thought Ichigo as he realized materializing a shield at this short of a distance would hurt her a lot. Reacting quickly, he pulled Orihime closer to him, burying her head into his chest and positioned himself to minimize the damage for his classmate. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

Both landed on the barrier as they made their decent to the ground. Ichigo grit his teeth as his back slammed into the barrier. He let out a cough of pain as he got the wind knocked out of him upon impact. He laid there for a minute, letting his whatever was damaged in his body to heal. He lifted his head to see Orihime still laying on top of his chest with her head resting on its side, and face hidden from view. Though he couldn't see it, Orihime was blushing like crazy and her eyes wide open as she held a tight grip on Ichigo's shihakusho. She could practically hear her crush's heart beating as she rested unmoving.

"You okay Orihime?"

She immediately jumped off Ichigo's body. "Yes! Yes I am!" she shouted in a panic.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a Hollow." said a voice from atop the roof of a wall. "Man, am I lucky." Turning to see who was speaking, the two saw two Soul Reapers; one with a bald head, the other with bizarre highlights on both his eye brows and hair. They both jumped off the platform to land in front of the intruders. "I was slackin' off in a corner cuz' it's a hassle to get to my post, then right before my eyes, down came my reward," said the bald one. He suddenly started doing a weird dance as he began singing the same lines over and over again about him being lucky. "And you… got bad luck." The bald man pointed his Zanpakuto at the two teenagers.

"Kay'," said Ichigo with the most deadpan expression ever conceived on his face. Even with the mask on, it was clear to see. Think Saitama, except with orange hair and a hollow mask.

"What kind of an expression is that, ya bastard?!" yelled the bald one.

"Nothing, I'm just… I can't even describe the feeling I'm experiencing right now."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Now the man was getting really pissed.

"And your friend's eyebrows," Ichigo said directing the attention to the bald man's flamboyant looking friend. "How are they so long? It doesn't make any sense. Do they grow like that? I might not have that great of a taste in fashion, but it's so weird." The comment ticked off the other Soul Reaper.

"Ichigo," whispered Orihime, "you really shouldn't anger them. Remember what Yoruichi said. Don't take any unnecessary risks, especially against stronger opponents." She could sense the spirit power that both of the Soul Reaper's possessed. They both had a tremendous amount of power that she couldn't help but fear.

"There's no point in running now. At some point they'll just catch up and we'll have no choice but to fight them." Ichigo pulled out his sword on his back and took his battle stance. "Inoue-san, I want you to get away from here. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt, got it."

"But Ichigo!"

"It's okay." His spirit pressure began to spike with a red aura surrounding him. "I'll be sure to take care of myself." Orihime just stood there for a second before giving a nervous nod in confirmation. She then dashed off into the distance.

"Yumichika," said the bald man. "You go after the girl, I'll take care of this one."

"Understood." The man then sprinted to catch up with the Orihime. His movement was astonishingly fast to the naked eye as he had already closed more than half the distance in just three seconds. Suddenly Ichigo appeared right in front of him out of nowhere. "Where do you think you're going?" said the hybrid. His fist then slammed into the now named Yumichika's face sending him flying back a few feet before tumbling to a stop.

As Yumichika pick his upper body up, he put his hand to his face to assess the damage that was dealt to him. He growled in anger as he realized that his "beautiful face" had been damaged, and by a Hollow nonetheless. The man had lost his temperament as he pulled out his Zanpakuto from his sheath. "That is it, you filthy creature! Now you die!"

"Sorry, but I don't have time for dying. I gotta friend I need to save."

The bald man let out a hysterical chuckle as he pulled his Zanpakuto out as well. "So, you have a noble cause. Quite bizarre for a Hollow, wouldn't you say?" He paused as he walked to stand at the same distance as his partner. "Tell me. What is your name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo huh? Good name."

"Thank you!" Ichigo said charismatically. "Finally, someone who understands my name."

The bald man gave a small laugh. "I'm Madarame Ikkaku, Eleventh Squad Junior Adjutant Class. Let's have a good fight."

"Ah." The three were silent, analyzing each other, checking for openings to attack. The two soul reapers then charged simultaneously towards Ichigo with their swords raised on their opposite sides. They both slashed down at Ichigo, who jumped out of the attack's way. Ikkaku burst in the direction of Ichigo with a wicked smile on his face as he attempted to jab his Zanpakuto into Ichigo's stomach. With quick reflexes, Ichigo blocked the attack with the broad side of his sword.

This unfortunately left his backside wide open. Yumichika took the opportunity and ran behind the teen, arm with sword, wrapped around his left side. The man with highlights attacked, attempting to cut Ichigo's back. They thought that the attack would finish the Hybrid off. They thought.

Both men's eyes widened in shock. Though the blade cut through the skin, it wasn't deep at all. In fact, the blade stopped the moment it passed the skin, going no deeper than the surface. With a smile plastered on his face, Ichigo parried Ikkaku's Zanpakuto and kneed him in the face sending him stumbling back. Using that upward momentum, Ichigo flipped over to grab Yumichika's wrist and put him under his feet, using him as a cushion to land on.

Ichigo, with the fifth seat still under his feet, he charged at Ikkaku with Zangetsu held over his shoulder. Ikkaku blocked the attack just in time, but struggled to keep a steady arm from the power behind the attack. He let out a roar, mustering all his strength to push back the Hybrid.

While the two were having a little standoff, Yumichika got up, grunting from the pain that was dealt to him. He looked at the hybrid, who had his back turn towards him to see that the cut he had inflicted had completely disappeared. "What the hell is he?" he thought in shock.

"Tch. Fucking Hollow," spat Ikkaku as he wiped his mouth from blood. "Hey, Kurosaki! You're a pretty damn good fighter. In fact, you're too good to be written off as a fight-loving amateur with good instincts. Who taught you how to fight?"

"Well I wouldn't necessarily consider it teaching. More like trying to kill me until I improved."

"Who?"

"Urahara Kisuke."

The name brought shock to both members of the eleventh squad. The image of the blonde man in a captain's uniform appeared in each of their heads as they realized that their opponent was not someone to take lightly. "I see…" Ikkaku said. "So, he's the one that taught you. Then I guess killing you will require more power from the both of us. Yumichika!" He caught his partner's attention. "Let's kick it up a notch, shall we?"

Ikkaku turned both his Zanpakuto and his sheath horizontally and slammed the ends together. "Grow, Houzukimaru!" The blade began to glow as its shape changed from a sword into a spear. From behind him, Ichigo heard the other Soul Reaper chant something as well. "Bloom, Fujikujaku!" he turned to see that the fifth seat's sword had also transformed, but this one was a khopesh shaped weapon that sprouted into four blades.

"What the hell is this?" thought Ichigo.

"Don't lose your focus on the battlefield." Ikkaku had almost completely closed the gap between him and Ichigo as he started jabbing left and right, trying to aim at Ichigo's head. The bald man then stopped his flurry of attacks to bring his spear below Ichigo and slice it upwards to slash at Ichigo's chest. The teen had managed to block the attack leading to a stalemate with the two.

"Have you forgotten about me?" Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized that Yumichika was right behind him. The fifth seat swung diagonally, targeting Ichigo's back once again. The hybrid pushed Ikkaku back and quickly turned to block the attack. Unfortunately, he fell right into their trap.

As Ichigo brought all of his attention towards Yumichika, Ikkaku's Zanpakuto suddenly detached into three parts with chains holding it together. The blade came sailing at him at a high speed. Reacting as fast as he could, he jumped out of the way of the attack. However, the attack still managed to make contact with Ichigo. The wound would have been much deeper if not for his Tetsuhada, but it was still a relatively deep cut and his Hollow regeneration powers wouldn't heal it completely for a few minutes.

Ichigo landed on a roof top, placing his hand on the cut to see how much blood he was losing. Upon looking at it he saw his whole hand covered in the red liquid coming out of his body. "Damnit." He looked back at his opponents to see a cocky grin on both of their faces.

"Heh, what do you think now?" said Ikkaku, twirling the detached part of his Zanpakuto around at his side. Ichigo just stood there, strategizing his next course of action.

Suddenly Ichigo launched himself towards Yumichika giving him limited time to prepare. The fifth seat raised Fujikujaku to block the attack. However, it wasn't the sword he needed to worry about. Ichigo landed right below Yumichika and his Zanpakuto. He then jumped up giving the flamboyant Soul Reaper an uppercut that resembled that of a Shoryuken, sending the Soul Reaper flying slightly into the air. The teen then slashed Zangetsu at Ikkaku who absorbed the attack in his chains. However, Ichigo kept putting unrelenting pressure on his blade, inching his blade closer and closer to the third seat's shoulder. Noticing this, Ikkaku sealed his chain by bringing the two thirds of his Zanpakuto together.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ikkaku used his hanging third of his weapon and swung it around hitting Ichigo in the head, catching him off guard, giving enough time to push the hybrid back. He then dashed forward, spear directing towards the orange hair's stomach.

Ichigo brought the broad side of Zangetsu to allow the blade of Houzukimaru to pass through the hole in the Zanpakuto. In one sweep, Ichigo brought his blade to the side, redirecting Ikkaku's attack leaving his defenses wide open. Ikkaku saw what Ichigo was doing and didn't allow the teen's plan to prevail without retaliation. Both brought back their fists, and smashed them into each other. Ichigo hit Ikkaku in the face while Ikkaku rammed his fist into Ichigo's open wound.

Both stood motionlessly, neither of them letting themselves show weakness to their opponents. Finally, the two stumbled back, stabbing their Zanpakuto's into the ground and using them to hold up their weight as they were recovering from the pain they were both experiencing. Ichigo felt a sharp stinging sensation in his side as he felt more blood pouring out of it. Ikkaku's face went completely numb as the left side of his face. They stared down one another as they panted from tiredness.

"Goddamnit!" shouted Yumichika in utter frustration as he got back up grasping his face, behind Ikkaku. "Stop hitting me in the face!"

Ichigo couldn't help but crack a small smirk at the comment underneath his mask. He then turned his attention back at Ikkaku, he said, "Hey Ikkaku, Whatchamacallit-"

"It's Yumichika."

"Sure. Why don't we finish this with one last hurrah, shall we?"

Ikkaku was confused with the offer at first, but an insane grin slowly spread across his face. "Sounds good to me. What do you say Yumichika?"

The man tightened grip on his Zanpakuto, grinding his jaw in anger. "Yeah, let's finish this."

"Alright." Ichigo raised the pure black Zangetsu above his head and began to emit a red and black spirit energy from the blade. His yellow eyes illuminated as power surged through his body. "Let's go."

In an instant, the three projected themselves towards their opponent(s) with their weapons positioned to strike. They shouted their lungs out as they got closer and closer to one another. "Getsuga…" growled Ichigo as he neared the Soul Reapers. The two men swung their Zanpakuto's down the moment their target was in range, attempting to prevent whatever Ichigo had in mind. Ichigo raised the large Khyber knife horizontally, blocking the attacks. Unfortunately for the two, his blade still roared with the red and black power building up in it. "Tenshou!"

First was the dome of energy, then the loud explosion which resonated throughout a large radius of the Seireitei. The explosion had taken out quite of ground, leaving a shallow, yet large, smoking crater with the three people in it. Ichigo stood there, gazing at the smoke clouding his view of the other Soul Reapers.

After a few moments, the dust cleared revealing Yumichika laying passed out on the ground. That was reassuring for him to see, however that reassurance quickly disappeared when he heard heavy breathing coming from the disappearing dust. There stood Ikkaku with his spear still held tightly in his hand, pointed directly at Ichigo. He was breathing like a madman as blood dripped from his torso. Neither of them moved for a few seconds as they stared each other down. Ikkaku' upper body began to sway, the focus in his eyes withered. Finally, he collapsed. His eyes were white from unconsciousness and their bodies sizzled a bit as smoke raised from them.

"Ichigo." He heard a faint shouting for his name in the distance. "Ichigo." It got a little louder as he was able to recognize the person's voice. "Orihime?" he questioned. He soon felt a slight rumbling in the ground. "Ichigo! Help!" He turned to see Orihime running with comical tears streaming from her eyes. Behind her was a large crowd of about 30 Soul Reapers chasing after the auburn haired girl, shouting about not letting her escape.

His classmate ran behind him for safety as the mob of Soul Reapers slowed to a halt. They saw the large, smoldering crater in the concrete with two of the strongest members of Soul Society laying defeated, and unconscious. They then looked at the man standing between them and their target. Fear began to overtake some of the Soul Reapers as they began to realize that this monster had taken down two of the strongest seated officers that weren't of the level of lieutenant or higher. They began to feel intimidated by the masked figure as he stared at them with a menacing look on in his bright yellow eyes.

Soon they saw Ichigo's gash in his side as they realized that he had already taken some damage from his previous fight, meaning that they stood a slight chance against him. However, all their hopes diminished as they saw the wound beginning to heal, and close completely. They began to tremble from the realization that they stood no chance against a monster like him.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu and rested the blunt side on his shoulder. "Who's next?" he asked in a tone that could only be described as killing intent. At that moment, everyone turned tail and ran as fast as they could the other direction.

As soon as they disappeared, Ichigo collapsed onto the ground, sprawling himself out as he relaxed every muscle he could in his body. "Foo!" he exhaled with relief. "Man am I tired."

"Ichigo? What was that?" Watching the wound heal almost instantaneously was worrisome. The event that unfolded before her was unprecedented for her, seeing a manipulation of the body in that sort of extremity.

"Oh, that? It's a little trick I learned from my Zanpakuto. Instant regeneration. It works like my Tetsuhada except when I focus my spirit energy into that area, it regenerates rather than guards," Ichigo explained. "However, it requires more spirit energy to work so I use it more as a scare tactic than anything else. Also, healing that prior injury from my fight used up all the energy I had left so I feel a bit exhausted."

"But what about those people?" she pointed to the two unconscious men.

From the position he was in, Ichigo tilted his head up to see the Soul Reapers he had previously fought. "Yeah, can you heal them? We need them to be conscious so that they can help us find Rukia."

"But what if they don't?"

"We'll know when it happens."

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later:**

Ikkaku slowly opened flickered his eyes open to see the translucent yellow sky above him. Wait, yellow? His eyes shot open as he sat up accidentally hitting his head against the barrier that surrounded him like a dome. "Ow goddamnit!" he shouted, "what the hell!" He rubbed his forehead to try and relieve himself of some of the pain.

"That sounded like it hurt," said Ichigo, sitting on the edge of the crater.

"What the hell are you still doing here?"

Ichigo shrugged as he lifted Ikkaku's Zanpakuto, "Heh, I never knew that. So a liberated Zanpakuto returns to normal once it's owner is unconscious, eh?"

Ikkaku's eyes widened. "My Houzukimaru," he gasped. "Damnit, give it back!"

"I ain't gonna take it. Just keeping it away from you so you wouldn't escape once you regained consciousness." It was then when Ikkaku realized that he no longer had any sense of pain in his body. He looked down at is chest to see all of his wounds had completely healed. The third seat was utterly flabbergasted. "No need to thank me, it was all Orihime's doing." Ichigo thumbed to the girl sitting next to the barrier as she smiled at the Soul Reaper. Somehow, he had completely missed her.

For some odd reason this angered the man in black. "You bastard. What the hell have you done?" he sneered.

"What?" Ichigo asked in a pitch higher than his usual.

"Damn, I thought it was weird that I didn't die from the bleeding." He turned his head. "Surviving by being saved by you guys, what a disgrace." The two classmates just sat there in silence with pursed lips. "Damnit, if I could move I'd kick both of your asses right now."

"What's up with that?" said Ichigo in confusion, "If I had known you were going to say that, I wouldn't've helped you. Well, I guess I don't care whether you're grateful or not. I just want to ask some questions." The hybrid's tone became much more serious.

Ikkaku let out a sigh, "I figured you'd say something like that. I got no luck," he whispered to himself. "What do you want to know, my birthday?"

"Kuchiki Rukia's location."

The name had caught Ikkaku's attention. "Kuchiki?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," he said almost in a disappointed tone, "the death row inmate. What do you people have to do with that trash?"

"We came to save her."

"Haa!" He yelled at the ridiculous claim. "To save her? How many of you are there? It's at least gotta be seven or eight, right?"

"Nope, five and a half."

"A half?" Ikkaku said, confused. "Never mind, do you think you'll save her with just that many?"

"Well, yeah."

The Soul Reaper suddenly burst out laughing hysterically at the proposition of the intruder's invasion. "There's no way! You guys must be retarded!"

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Ichigo's voice was incredibly stern, much more than it had been before. "I'm gonna do it, even if it kills me."

The statement caused the man to stop laughing due to the seriousness of the conversation being more present than before. "Whatever," Ikkaku waved off. "If you go straight south from here, you'll find the offices of the Gotei 13 there."

"Wait, you're seriously going to tell me this? For all you know I could be lying and trying to do a terror attack."

"Oh please, as if you could ever pull off a stunt like that." Ichigo took slight offence to that comment, but was glad to see that the man had some trust in him. Ikkaku continued, "At the west end of the offices, stand three white towers. She should be in there."

"Re-Really?" asked Ichigo. "The most obvious things in the entire area is the location of which Rukia is being held? The literal center of attention, is the center of attention?"

"Yup. I don't give a shit what you do with her. If you want to save her, be my guest. Now get outta here before the others come here and find you. Now come on, get your ass out of here before I reconsider my choice."

"Okay. Let's go Orihime," said the hybrid. "Thanks by the way, I owe you one."

"You don't owe me shit. Cut the mushy crap out." As the two were about to leave, Ikkaku remembered something. "Hold one! Before you leave, can I ask you something?" Ichigo turned around to face the contained man. "Who's the strongest in your group."

Ichigo gave some thought at the question before replying, "Probably me."

"I see. In that case, be careful of my squad captain. The Captain isn't interested in weaklings like your girlfriend." Orihime became worried about the person Ikkaku was talking about. A person, who would search for only the strongest to fight sounded not only frightening, but psychotic. And now they know that his captain would be hunting Ichigo sent chills down her spine. "If what you said is true, make no mistake, the one he'll be after is you."

"Is he strong?"

Ikkaku paused as he considered his next words carefully. "When you meet him, you'll see. That is if you live long enough for your brains to comprehend his power."

Now Ichigo became worried. Even though he had taken down his opponents in a quick fashion, it still was quite a fight, slightly pushing him to his limit. Now to hear that the person he struggled against was not only admiring just how powerful the man was, but also saying that he couldn't fathom how powerful their captain's strength was, was truly a terrifying idea to put in Ichigo's mind. "What's his name?" he asked.

"Zaraki Kenpachi."

* * *

 **Constant Cycle, what took you so long to post the chapter? -You complain in a whinny voice.**

 **Don't get you undies in a bunch. To be fair I did say "probably" so it wasn't set in stone. Anywho, here's your new chapter. I'm glad to see that this story is still getting attention even if I don't update regularly. I hope you guys like it, there may be a little less comedy in this than my other chapters, but it's hard to be funny in a serious fight depiction. Either way I'll be seeing you in the coming week(end)s and I'll see you guys next time.**

 **Bye Bye**

 **P.S. I'm trying to make the chapters longer for you guys so that may be the cause of slower chapter posts.**


	6. Things Are Getting Serious

The two classmates were rushing through the narrow roads of the seireitei, running as fast as they could to get away from the horde of Soul Reapers chasing after them. It was ridiculous how many people had managed to fit in such a narrow pathway. Ichigo could have taken them out in one Getsuga Tenshou, however, he did not want to attract any more attention than what he already had, especially without knowing whether or not a captain was nearby. He wasn't willing to take that risk, especially since he exhausted a majority of his energy in his previous fight. "God damnit, wish my frickin' regeneration ability didn't use so much spirit energy," he thought to himself.

"Kill that Hollow!" shouted one of the Soul Reapers.

"I'm not a goddamn Hollow!" yelled Ichigo with a vein bulging on the side of his forehead. However, his words fell silent to their chasers' ears as they continued their pursuit of the ryoka. "Damnit," hissed Ichigo, "Don't these guys know when to let up?"

A sweat mark appeared on Orihime's head as she looked at Ichigo with a bashful smile on her face. "Well we did just break into their home and proceed to beat them up."

Ichigo just thought about what his friend said as they ran. "You make a good point," he finally said.

"IIIIIchiiiigoooooo!" shouted someone who appeared from an intersection of the road. Both teens squinted their eyes to see who was shouting his name only to see Ganju running towards them with happy tears in his eyes.

"Ganju? Ganju what are you doing? Run the other way!" yelled Ichigo. Right after he said that another horde of Soul Reapers appeared around the same corner Ganju did and proceeded to chase after him. "God damnit Ganju!" shouted the hybrid.

"Kurosaki-kun, what are we going to do?" asked Orihime in a panic.

Ichigo was silent as the three continued to get pincered with the one coming force of the Soul Reapers. He just let the situation process in his head. "There's no helping it," he thought. He sighed as he gripped Zangetsu, which was resting at his side. "Duck," he said quietly. Orihime gave a confused look to Ichigo. "What?" she questioned. "I said duck!" he shouted this time so that Ganju could hear the warning. Ganju's face formed the same expression as Orihime's until they both realized when Ichigo began to pull out his Zanpakuto. His yellow eyes began to glow a brighter yellow as his hollow centered Khyber sword gathered energy from its user, engrossing it with a dark red aura. "Getsuga Tensho!" The orange hair hybrid roared as he swung the large weapon with all his might.

An explosion enveloped the place alley knocking out a majority of the Soul Reapers charging their way. This action caused all of the ensuing Soul Reapers to pause in shock from the power displayed before their eyes. They held their position hesitantly, but were still poised to attack the ryoka.

Ichigo noticed this and took this time to brace himself for an onslaught for when the Soul Reapers started charging at them again. He noticed Orihime standing behind him with her arms stretched out in front of her, preparing for their attack. In the mist of all the tension between the two groups, the two classmates heard a grumbling coming from Ganju. "Ganju, are you alright?" asked Orihime.

Water fall tears were streaming from his eyes as he laid crying in relief. "It's a miracle. I avoided the attack just in time," he cried to himself.

"Ganju, get up." Ichigo grabbed the back of the green clad man's collar and lifted him to his feet. "We're not out of this yet."

Ganju, realizing the situation, pulled his stub of a sword from the sheath behind his back. "What are we gonna do now? That last one worked 'cause of surprise, but these guys don't look like the type to kindly retreat just 'cause we showed off some power."

"Don't know. Hopefully Deus Ex Machina will work its magic." At that very moment, the group heard shouting from behind Ichigo's crowd of Soul Reapers.

"Oi, kid! What the hell are you doing!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Watch it brat!"

"Sorry!"

There was a lot of back and forth between the crowd and a person with an annoyingly high pitch, squeaky voice. "Hmm?" hummed Ichigo, "What the hell is that ruckus?" Both Orihime and Ganju turned to see what Ichigo was talking about.

A scrawny little kid suddenly tripped out from the crowd and into the open, between the ryoka and the Soul Reapers, landing flat on his face. "Owwi, that was so rude," said the small Soul Reaper.

An evil grin appeared on Ganju's face as he looked at the casted out member. "Ichigo, I just thought of an easy plan to get out of here."

"What a coincidence," Ichigo responded as his piercing yellow eyes stared down at the young Soul Reaper. "I did, too."

"I don't get it," said Orihime in utter confusion as she couldn't read between the lines of what the two were saying.

"U-uh." The downed Soul Reaper was horrified to say the least, from the image of Ichigo stand above him, casting his shadow of the scrawny kid, and staring at him in a menacing fashion. All he paid attention to was the white and red mask adorned on the orange hair's face. "A-a Hollow," he said to himself in complete fear. He felt death would soon be upon him in the cruelest fashion.

The masked man picked him up by the collar and held him close to his chest with a Zanpakuto placed a mere centimeter away from his throat. "Clear a way, or the kid gets it." Ichigo gave off a murderous vibe as he spoke his words. Everyone was a bit shocked by the amount of bloodlust in his voice.

"Ichigo what are you doing!" shouted Orihime as she watched in absolute shock at the behavior Ichigo was demonstrating. The hybrid turned to give an empty glare at her.

The Soul Reaper was too afraid to scream. Too afraid to say a word. All he had the ability to do was cry silently, thinking that it was the end for him. "Shut up brat," said Ichigo shaking the scrawny Soul Reaper before turning back to the Soul Reapers. "I said move!" he shouted with hits of anger.

The reaction he got from the other Soul Reapers was the completely opposite of what he was hoping for. Instead of worried expressions, he saw grins on their faces. Grins that were as sinister as Ichigo's mask's. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" one said sarcastically.

"Well, uh, I'm taking a hostage?" Ichigo said with less confidence than before.

"Does it look like we would really care about what you do with him?"

Ichigo just had a deadpan look on his face. "Oi, kid," whispered the teen. "What the hell are they talking about?" The boy was still too afraid to answer the question. He just stood there, continuing to cry silently.

"Heh, looks like he's a true outsider," said a Soul Reaper from the crowd. "I can't stand being thought of the same as them, so I'll tell ya. Clean your ears and listen well. Altogether there are thirteen court guard squads that protect the Seireitei. We, the eleventh squad, are honored with the strongest man in the Gotei thirteen as our captain. We are the most powerful battle squad amongst the Gotei."

"Ou!" shouted the group with pride.

"Well, they do all have weird haircuts and this guy's quite ordinary," whispered in Ganju.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"Squad four, a rear squad that specializes in relief and supplies. It's the weakest, dead-weight squad of the Gotei 13, the gathering place for all the pansies who can't hold a sword to save their life. Honestly, I don't know why they exist," he mumbled that last part to himself. "But more than that, don't associate us with people like them."

"They're an eyesore!" shouted someone from the crowd. "They piss me off!"

"That's why we, eleventh squad…"

"Hate their guts!" shouted everyone in perfect unison.

"Kill 'im if you want! To be honest, it's two birds with one stone to us!"

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!" screamed Ganju. "Not caring what happens to him just because you hate the squad? Isn't that a little over board?"

"That's infuriating," said Ichigo. A sudden spike came from the hybrid as he released his grip on the squad four Soul Reaper. Orihime rushed over to the boy to check and see if he was hurting anywhere. "You don't care about your own teammates?" The freed "hostage" looked up in shock at the person before him, seeing him in a completely different light. "The people who support you and will heal you unconditionally, and you throw them to the side like their trash? You truly are just trash."

"Hah! What did you say? Why would we ever care about some lowlife like him," spoke one of the squad eleven members.

"You simply fail to see…" a hefty amount of pressure was placed on the ryoka's attackers as it became harder and harder to breathe. The squad members became increasingly worried about their wellbeing as the figure of death slowly approached them. "That it's you who are the lowlifes."

Before anything could be done to them, a sudden burst erupted from the wall of where the Soul Reapers were standing, sending them flying every which direction. "W-what the hell was that?" asked Ganju.

"You're guess is as good as mine." Ichigo turned around and began dashing the other direction. "But who cares, now's our chance to get outta here!" The three then ran away from their problem as quickly as they could.

As the group ran off, a person walked through the hole in the wall, where the explosion had erupted from. There stood Chad with his typical unreadable expression plastered on his face. "Hmm," he said, "I thought I sensed Ichigo here just now. Guess I was a bit too late."

* * *

 **A Few Minutes Later:**

"My name is Yamada Hanatarou," said the "hostage", bowing out of respect for his captors.

"Contrarily, that's hard to remember," said both Ichigo and Ganju at the same time with bored expressions.

"Eh?" said Hanatarou in confusion.

"Nice to meet you Yamada-kun," cheered Orihime with her typical upbeat attitude. "I'm Inoue Orihime!"

"A-ah, nice to meet you," he said thanking whoever was watching over him that the ryoka were not savages.

"Wait, aren't you the enemy?" questioned Ganju as he pointed at Hanatarou. "What are you calmly introducing yourself for?"

"Oh, now that you mention it, that's true."

"What did you bring him here for?" asked Ichigo to Ganju.

"What do you think! He was next to me so I just brought him without thinking!"

"How do you bring an entire person without thinking?"

"Shut up! You didn't notice him either until a second ago!"

"Jeez, can you cut it out you two!" said Orihime trying to break up the fight.

"Thank you, Hollow-san," Hanatarou suddenly butted in.

Ichigo confusingly pointed his index finger at himself. "Me?"

The fourth squad Soul Reaper bowed his head once again. "Yes. Thank you for standing up for me against the squad eleven members. No one has ever tried to help me out like that before. It was quite… refreshing," he finished with a sad smile on his face. He then felt a hand place on his head. "Don't sweat it. It wouldn't have sit well with me if I had done nothing." Though Hanatarou couldn't see it, he could tell that Ichigo was giving him a warm smile from underneath the mask from the energy he was giving off.

Ichigo stood up from his squatting position and looked at the door. "I think the coast is clear." Everyone nodded their heads as they stood back to their feet. Out of nowhere, Ichigo started to yell in frustration at himself while grinding both sides of his head with his knuckles. "Agh, god damnit how are we supposed to find Rukia with all this bullshit!"

"Sssh," shushed Ganju. "Do you want them to hear us?"

The teen sighed. "Sorry, I'm just tired and frustrated with what has happened today. We know where she is, the problem is, how do we get to the white towers Ikkaku was talking about?"

"Not to worry, I got a map," stated Ganju as he pulled out a wrinkled-up piece of paper and proceeded to unfold it. "Let's see. We need to make sure we don't run into any captains. It'd be helpful if we knew their position."

Ichigo and Orihime looked over the man's shoulders to examine the map only to realize that it lacked a sense of detail. "Um, Ganju-san, I don't see any streets on this map."

"Did you hand draw this?" asked Ichigo.

"Shut up! It's better than nothing!"

"Sssh." The group shushed again. Ganju comedically covered his mouth after the two told him to quiet down.

"Um, when you said Rukia, did you mean Kuchiki Rukia?" The group turned to the scrawny Soul Reaper. "The younger sister of Captain Kuchiki of sixth squad, now on death row. So then, the 'white tower' must mean the Senzaikyuu. If that is your destination, then… I know a short cut that we can use."

Everyone was silently staring at him with a look of disbelief. Ichigo looked over at his adversaries before saying, "What are the odds?"

* * *

 **Somewhere Else a Little Earlier:**

A certain gray haired Soul Reaper of squad four was rushing to the scene where she saw a distant explosion of dark red energy. Alongside her were a group of individuals she was leading once they realized that Soul Society was being invaded. Originally, she was supposed to be at a meeting with the other lieutenants, but unfortunately, the message didn't reach her. She was worried for the person who was defending against the attack once she sensed the released energy. It was eerily similar to that of a hollow's so it was no wonder why she was a bit on edge.

"Lieutenant Isane?" called one of her associates, "Are you okay?"

She gave a weary smile and replied. "Yes, I'm fine." She turned back forward as they were soon approaching the location of the explosion. All she could hope for was that the person caught in the blast had survived. There lied a steaming crater in the middle of the road with the side walls completely in shambles. On a piece of debris sat Ikkaku, lazily resting his sheathed Zanpakuto on his shoulder with his armed snaking around it to hold it in place. Lying face up in front him was Yumichika, still unconscious from their previous fight.

"Ikkaku?" Isane said in surprise. "What happened here?"

"What's it look like?" he replied sarcastically. "We ran into the ryoka."

"Did you get them?" Isane had jumped to the conclusion that the two squad eleven seats had taken out the threat of the ryoka since both were unscathed and looked in good health. "I don't see them anywhere."

"We lost." Ikkaku replied emptily.

The two words that left the man's mouth shook the group to their very core. To think that two of the top seated officers in the squad that specializes in combat would lose to the invaders. The situation was a lot more serious than what they had originally given it. "What?" gasped Isane.

"I said we lost, don't make me repeat myself." He grew a little more agitated from the questioning of the lieutenant.

"But you don't have any wounds on you. How did they beat you?"

"I said we lost, alright!" shouted Ikkaku as he stood up and gripped the collar of the tall, gray haired woman and bringing her down to his eye level. "I don't have to take crap from you!"

"Let go of lieutenant Isane. She holds a higher rank than you, so show some respect," said one of the squad four members, trying to defend her superior.

"Shut up!" shouted Ikkaku to the unranked Soul Reaper. "She may be of higher rank," he pointed his thumb at himself, "but I'm stronger than you. Don't ever forget that." Everyone was on edge by the action that Ikkaku had taken. From close up, Isane could see a burning of frustration in his eyes as he stared her down. There was no hate towards her in them, just irritability. After a while, he let go of Isane's shihakusho and sat back down on his seat of rubble and continued to stare forward blankly. "You just missed them by the way. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be able to find them again. They have a knack for making noise."

Not a second later, they heard an explosion from the distance. "Oh, well what do you know? That's probably them right now."

The corps from squad four immediately turned to where they heard the noise. They were hesitant at first to go and investigate until Isane ordered them to. "Go to the location of the explosion. We need to support our comrades."

"Right!" they confirmed before running off to their next destination. Before Isane followed suit, she noticed that Ikkaku wasn't moving from his spot which was highly unusual for him. Usually where there's an opponent nearby, he'd be the most anxious to fight, jumping head first into the fray. Even if he had lost before, he would have at least tried to redeem himself. Now, he was mellowed down and seemingly a bit depressed.

Ikkaku could tell from her expression what she was thinking. He just sighed before he explained himself. "There'd be no point. He's fighting style is too unpredictable and reactive for me to try again. The results would be even more lopsided."

"What do you mean?" asked Isane.

He smiled to himself. "He's still improving as time passes. Hell, just putting him into this kind of environment makes him that much more dangerous."

"Putting him into this environment?"

"Yeah. Apparently, he's after the death row inmate, Rukia Kuchiki. He and his friends are trying to save her. Not sure why though, that's beyond me. By putting Rukia on death row, we essentially baited him here causing his strength to grow exponentially. I wouldn't be surprised if he put up a decent fight against our captain by the end of this." Isane made no reply at that last comment, she just let the information sink into her brain before running off in a sprint to catch up with the others. She was horrified at the thought that someone one would be able to match up with that monster of a person such as Kenpachi. The lieutenant couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

It took a few minutes for her to arrive at the next attack site. Things looked bleak for her as she saw bodies scattered all over the place along with a massive hole in the wall. Then came the status report. "Lieutenant Isane, we have examined all of the soldiers. None were killed in the meeting, but at least a hundred are knocked unconscious as of now."

"Thank goodness," she said with a sigh of relief. She then looked at all of downed Soul Reapers and wondered just how powerful the Ryoka really were. She approached one of the Soul Reapers who was getting healed by one of her squad members and asked politely what had happened. The squad eleven soldier had a morbid expression on his face as the memory of a certain person was still imprinted in his head.

"I-I-I don't know," he replied in a panic. "T-t-they had a hostage and w-we somehow provoked him."

"Slow down, sir," Isane replied patiently. "Do you have any information on the Ryoka?"

"H-hollow. It was a Hollow! He had orange hair and a Hollow mask over his face. I-I can't remember the other faces, b-but another had something on his arm. Next thing I knew I was knocked out cold."

"And you said they had a hostage, do you know anything of him?"

The man slowly nodded his head once. "He was one from your squad. Very scrawny."

That information wasn't as specific as she had hoped for, but at least she now had more information on their intruders. She decided to ask a bit more. "Do you have any specifics on the hostage?"

"H-he was young," his voice cracked a little bit, "shoulder length hair, tired eyes."

The description formed a small picture in her head. The details sounded familiar to someone that she knew in her squad, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Okay," she said reassuringly. She now had to piece together the puzzle to find where the Ryoka where so that she could rescue her comrade and inform the captains so that they can take out the threat.

"Okay, so they have a member from my squad, and they're after Kuchiki. That must mean that this is an extraction. They must be lying low after their entrance, trying keep attention away from themselves. Where could they-" Only one place came to mind as she processed the information. "Of course!" she then ran off in a hurry.

"Lieutenant Isane, where are you going!" shouted one of her squad members.

* * *

 **The Sewers:**

"Huh, that's very cleaver. I never would have guessed that the short cut would have been through the sewer." Ganju's voice echoed through the passage.

"Yeah. The underground sewer covers the entirety of Soul Society. You can go practically anywhere in the city through here," replied Hanatarou.

"Don't the people know about the entrance to the sewer, too? I mean, all we did was remove the cover."

"They do, but I doubt they will come after us. The only people who know how to navigate through the complex sewer system are the paramedics of the fourth division."

"That's so cool!" exclaimed Orihime.

"Heh, so this place doubles as supply/medic route. Thus, only your group needs to know it well."

"Heh heh," Hanatarou laughed sheepishly. "That's not it… cleaning the sewers just happens to be part of the job of squad four. We are weak, so we always end up doing all the chores." A gloom enveloped his hunched over body.

"O-oh," said both the auburn haired girl and the bandana wearing man. They both felt pity at the lack of appreciation that the boy's division receives.

"Hanatarou," called Ichigo. "Why are you so willing to help us? We are your enemies. Why are you taking us to the 'white tower' without any question?"

"Well…" he hesitantly responded. "I've learned a lot from Rukia about you, Kurosaki. She's always been so pleasant to talk to. I just, sincerely hope that you will save Rukia. Before Rukia was transferred to the Senzaikyuu, she was in the holding cell of the division six office. During that time, I was assigned to janitor duty there. At first, I was a little scared since she was a noble after all, but… when I first called her mistress, she scolded me for it. Then she said, 'please don't address me as mistress.'"

"Kind of a weird thing to note, but go on," said Ichigo.

"She was a lot nicer than I could ever imagine. It made me feel at ease for once in my life. Then I started going there every day, and started to enjoy my time there. She also started conversing with me. She talked mostly about you, Kurosaki. She said that even though she'd only known you for two months, she had incredibly high faith in you. Though, through her words, I didn't expect you to be a Hollow."

"Not a Hollow," thought Ichigo in the back of his head.

"Also, because of her, your life changed forever, and you suffered a lot of pain. She said she could never make it up to you no matter what she does. During the time I've seen her, her face was always gloomy and sad."

"Okay first off, don't call me Kurosaki!" Ichigo blurted out of nowhere causing a complete shift in the mood. "My name is Ichigo, and you will refer to me as such. Secondly, I don't want any of this," he gestured to Hanatarou.

"Don't want any of what?"

"You being depressed. It really is a kill joy." Everyone was a bit confused as to the reaction that Ichigo was taking. "A last of all, you won't have to worry about Rukia. Because we are going to save her, am I right?" he said trying to boost the morale of his company. "Ous!" shouted the other two shouted with determination.

Hanatarou couldn't help but smile from the enthusiasm the group showed. He felt a strong bond between these characters, a trust unlike any he had before. "So, Hanatarou. What do you say we save ourselves a Rukia."

The Soul Reaper nodded his head with high energy. "Right!"

Suddenly they heard footsteps fast approaching their position. The clicking of wooden sandals echoing lower and lower with ever few steps. Everyone turned to the corner where the sound was coming from, anticipating the person to appear around the corner. Ichigo moved to the side of the wall and gestured to everyone to do so as well. The feeling of their hearts pounding could be felt pulsating through their body. Ichigo tightened his grip on Zangetsu as he scooted over to the edge, holding it like a baseball bat.

Right as the footsteps where just around the corner, Ichigo swung the flat part of his Zanpakuto into the face of the person approaching. With a loud bam, the person was knocked on to the ground. The group peer around the side to see whom they had hit. There laid a tall, gray haired woman unconscious on the ground. The group stood in silence as they stared at her until Hanatarou finally said something.

"I am so getting fired."

* * *

 **A Few Seconds Later:**

"What are we supposed to do with her!" said Ganju. It was a good question too. No one knew quiet what to do with the resting body. Hanatarou was panicking about him being caught with the ryoka by none other than his own lieutenant which was the last person he wanted to be caught by.

"Well, we obviously can't let her go or she'll tell the entirety of Soul Society," chimed in Ichigo, giving his two cents on the matter. "The only logical option is to keep her until we finish."

"Are you ridiculous! She'll give away our position when she wakes up!" Ganju said, being persistent due to his hatred towards Soul Reapers. "And plus, we have no way of containing her!" It was at that moment when Ichigo looked at Orihime. They both thought the same thing. Orihime used her hairpins to form a barrier around the Soul Reaper with her weapon out of reach outside, the same thing she did with Ikkaku.

"There problem solved," grinned Ichigo. All Ganju could do was mumble how it was a bad idea to keep the Soul Reaper. The orange haired teen looked at Ganju, then back to the other two with a smug smile underneath his mask. "Hey Orihime, do you mind watching over Isane while we're gone. You know, just in case she wakes up."

With a cheery smile, the auburn haired girl nodded and sat cross legged next to the Lieutenant. "Thanks. I'll be sure to make it up to you later for keeping you held up like this."

"Oh, it's no worries. I can handle being by myself. I'm a big girl after all."

Ichigo had to turn away to hide his face as he thought to himself, "Such purity."

"Are you okay Ichigo?"

Ichigo stiffened. "Yes! Yes, I am!" he almost shouted. There was yet another awkward silence that enveloped the group. "Alright let's get going Hanatarou."

"R… Right." And then the group went off on their adventure.

* * *

 **First Squad Barracks: Lieutenants meeting room:**

"Scheduled report," said the blonde hair with a weird mullet like hair. His name was Iemura Yasochika. "Eleventh squad, third seat officer, Madarame Ikkaku and fifth officer, Ayasegawa Yumichika, both high ranked officers have left the battle lines. There reasoning is unclear as of this time. Fourth squad, lieutenant seat officer, Kotetsu Isane has strangely gone missing for reasons unknown, we believe she is investigating the location of the Ryoka." There was some confusion as a few of the lieutenants hummed at the report. "We are currently investigating injury status of all squads. However, as for squad eleven, we have reports that they have been essentially annihilated." There was yet another mumbling in the crowd.

"Eleventh squad?" said Kira another blonde hair with a weird haircut.

"No way," said Hinamori, the girl with the Chinese bun on the back of her head. Her hands were cupped over her mouth in surprise.

"In just the few hours after the intrusion, they've suffered that many injuries," said ninth division lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi.

"Hmph, pathetic," stated the large man in purple who went by the name of Omaeda.

Iemura continued, "We have, so far, confirmed three Ryoka. Two of which, we have been told, have taken one of our fourth squad members as a hostage and are heading this way, but… as of several minutes ago, we have been unable to sense their spirit force, and their movements since then are unknown." This triggered a flashback in Renji as he recollected his fight with Ichigo in the real world.

"In any case," chimed in Rangiku, the natural looking red head of the lieutenants. "we need to collect more intelligence."

"Actually, we ain't heard any response from our fourth officer in a spell either," said squad seven's lieutenant with the sunglasses. "we think he probably got beat, so go on and check around block twenty, west quarter."

"Seventh squad's fourth officer. Isn't that Jiroubou, the kamaitachi?" asked Rangiku.

"Correct."

"Jidanbou's little brother," added Hisagi once more. "Even he got beat."

"What the hell is going on?" Kira seemed to be the only one asking any questions.

As the group of lieutenants continued their bickering, Hinamori just stood there in shock. "It's kind of… turning pretty serious, huh Abarai," she said to Renji only to see that he was there no more. However, she noticed that the door to exit the room had been pushed opened. "Abarai?"

* * *

 **Somewhere Near the White Tower:**

"It's okay," said Hanatarou. His head was peeking out of one of the stone slabs the lead to the sewer system. The surroundings were pretty foggy which was quite odd considering everywhere else was fine. "This is the exit nearest to the tower"

"Bwa," blurted Ganju, "I feel like it's been forever since I breathed fresh air."

"Look there it is." The Soul Reaper pointed.

"We really have come pretty close, but man that's impressive. It looks like from here on it's gonna be a hard path."

"It's just some stairs," said Ichigo sarcastically, "how hard can it be?" The group began their track towards the staircase. Ichigo suddenly stopped when he saw a figure standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"How hard can it be indeed," it said. The voice sounded very familiar to Ichigo as the fog began to clear to reveal none other than the Lieutenant of the sixth division, Abarai Renji. "Long time no see. Do you remember my face?"

Ichigo just stared with a deadpan expression at the Soul Reaper in front of him. He lazily lifted his finger to point at him as he gave a nonchalant answer. "Nope."

Renji stood silently as he let the information process in his head. A few seconds passed by and there was no reaction. Finally, it came. "Haaaa!" he shouted angrily. "How! We fought less than two weeks ago!"

"Sorry," Ichigo said with a cocky grin under his mask. "I don't remember the names of people whose asses I've kicked."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho. Look who's taking shit right now. Let's see if you're just bark and no bite."

"It'll play out exactly the same way as before, Renji."

Both pulled out their Zanpakutos with angry expressions on their faces as they growled at one another. "Who is _he_?" asked Ganju. "The spirit pressure I sense from him is on a completely different scale than the others so far."

Hanatarou was speechless for a moment, too shocked with fear. He had a terrified expression on his face with his eyes practically bulging out in fear. His body was trembling at the sight of the red haired man. "That's… that's…" he stuttered, "Abarai Renji, lieutenant of the sixth division."

"Lieutenant!" gasped Ganju. He didn't need any more information for he knew the strength of a lieutenant ranked Soul Reaper. "Ichigo, stop mocking him! It will only make the situation worse for us!" Ichigo gave an expression of annoyance at the comment. "Bitch, I do what I want," he said to himself.

"Color me impressed, Ichigo. I'm surprised you're still alive. I had thought this entire time that Captain Kuchiki had killed you. However, I didn't expect you to become a Hollow to get your powers back."

Ichigo grew a cocky smile from underneath his mask, "First of all, I'm not a Hollow. Secondly, you can never assume when it comes to me. However, would it be safe to assume that you will be cooperative and allow us to move on through without any conflict?"

The red haired lieutenant unsheathed his blade. "I will not make the same mistake as my captain. This time I will see through to your death."

"I'm guessing that's a no." Ichigo pulled out his own Zanpakuto and braced himself for combat. "Very well then." Both charged full speed at one another as their weapons collided with one another, creating sparks as the metal clashed against each other. Ichigo couldn't help but grin from excitement. "Nice," he said before both Zanpakuto wielders pushed each other back. With a quick surge of energy, they charged at one another again and smashed their blades, creating an even larger disperse of spirit pressure.

"What in the world is Ichigo thinking? His opponent's a Lieutenant, it won't matter how good he is, there's no way he can win!" said Ganju thinking that this was the end of the road for him.

"No that may not be so," said Hanatarou. "Watch closely." As he said that, Ganju saw Ichigo giving pressure to the red haired lieutenant, pushing him into the stone wall near the steps to the top of the hill. "Ichigo is very strong," he said quietly in absolute amazement, "He is completely overpowering Lieutenant Abarai." There was only one question that was one the two minds watching the fight. "Just what is he?"

Back to the fight, the two powerhouses were at a stalemate with Renji's back against the wall and Ichigo sandwiching him with the pressure on his blade. "Oi, Kurosaki Ichigo. Let me ask you, how do you intend to save Rukia?" the Soul Reaper asked.

"What do you mean?" responded the hybrid.

"Even if you defeat me, there will still be eleven more lieutenants and above that, thirteen captains for you to face. Unless you can defeat all of us, there is no way you can save Rukia. Are you sure you can do it?"

Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Ichigo answered the question. "Of course!" His eyes were filled with determination. "No matter how many more lieutenants there are, no matter how many captains there will be, I will fight them! I will fight them all, no matter what! If they dare to try and stop me, I'll take them all on!"

Renji remained relatively unfazed by Ichigo's banter. "What is this?" he questioned. "Where does this confidence come from? Do you think you can handle anything just because you won one or two battles? Or is it because your Zanpakuto is different? Don't tell me that you've become this arrogant with this little improvement in strength?"

"Oh shit," thought Ichigo before he was suddenly pushed back into the air. "Roar," called Renji, **"Zabimaru!"** His sword changed forms into a saw like blade that extended like a whip straight towards Ichigo. He had managed to block the Shikai form of Renji's Zanpakuto, but couldn't stop it from continuing its path straight into a wall. "What the hell!" he thought before impact.

"Seems like you understood my abilities just after one fight with me," commented the Soul Reaper as he retracted his Zanpakuto. "But let me tell you why this will be different from last time." He began his approach towards Ichigo. "When Lieutenant and higher Soul Reapers go to the World of the Living, in order to not cause unnecessary disturbances to the souls in the Living World, we must suppress much of our power. Right now, my power if five times stronger than when we last met. It doesn't matter how much strong you've gotten, it's close to impossible for you to beat me."

There was a little bit of a stir from the rubble. "You have to be joking. That was your full power?" Ichigo stepped out from the hole he created and dusted off some debris from his gray shihakushou. "If that be the case." He turned his attention back to Renji to glare at him with his yellow eyes. "Then I think I can handle eleven more of you guys."

Seeing as Ichigo's form looked completely unharmed, an agitated grin gritted across the lieutenant's face. "You bastard."

* * *

 **Sewer:**

Isane's body began to stir as she slept. She let out a little bit of a moan as her eyes fluttered open, waking herself up from being unconscious. Before she knew anything, a sharp pain stung in her head, instinctively causing her hand to reach up and rub her face. "Ow, what… happened?" she asked herself.

"Oh! You're awake!" a red haired girl from beside her exclaimed in a pleasant surprise. It was then when the lieutenant realized that she was surrounded by an energy barrier, keeping her from escaping. She then noticed the girl's clothes which were not shihakushous like she was so used to seeing. "She must be one of the Ryokas!" thought Isane.

Reaching for her Zanpakuto, she noticed that it wasn't at her side anymore. Looking around for it, she found herself in the sewer system, a place she hadn't been in for a long time. "Don't worry, I have no intention of hurting you," said the girl sincerely, trying to calm the imprisoned Soul Reaper. "You just gave us a little bit of a surprise. My name is Inoue, Orihime. Nice to meet you."

Isane didn't know quite how to respond towards the friendliness of the girl, so she decided to do the same and introduce herself, "Kotetsu, Isane. The pleasure is mine?" She was quite confused about the situation she found herself in.

Realizing that escape was futile, she gave up on her struggle and just sat back and let the headache subside. The girl seemed nice enough to leave Isane to her own devices. "Sorry we had to invade your home," Orihime said out of nowhere. The gray haired woman was a bit shocked by the statement as she gazed at the invader. "I really mean it."

Isane felt like this was a good time to get answers as the girl began to open up. "Why do you want to save Kuchiki?"

"Oh, so you know why we're here." Orihime seemed to had expected that as a melancholy look fell upon her expression. "Let me just say, we owe a lot to her, Ichigo. She's helped us through a lot of things knowing the risk and trouble she may find herself in. Rukia is our friend, and if we just leave her to be killed, what kind of friends would we be?"

The lieutenant was taken aback by the genuineness of the answer. She herself was a bit saddened by the fact that Rukia was said to be executed for breaking the laws of Soul Society. Her colleague had always been a good friend of hers and she wanted to help her with all her heart, but she felt she didn't have the strength to do so. So, she just let it slide. Now, however, here are these Ryoka invading with nothing but their guts their skills, and each other to take on the entirety of the Seireitei by themselves. She couldn't help but feel a bit motivated and hopeful for the success of the group.

* * *

 **At the Foot of the Senzaikyuu:**

Ichigo stood nonchalantly in his spot as the two fighters glared at each other, waiting for one of them to make a move. Finally, after a few seconds, Renji charged full speed at Ichigo with Zabimaru raised extended overhead. "It's over!" he shouted. The elongated blade cut through the entire building in front of him in half.

"Now things have gotten a bit more interesting." Renji's Zanpakuto suddenly went flying up into the air dispersed the dust from the rubble. Ichigo then shot out from the clearing straight towards the lieutenant. In a quick motion, Zabimaru was recoiled back into its sword form to block the attack. Though Ichigo had the jump on him, Renji still had the advantage. He pushed it the side and transformed his Zanpakuto into its whip form, slashing at Ichigo's side, but for some reason the cut didn't go as deep as he had expected it to.

"Ouch," Ichigo said blandly.

Pissed off by the nonchalant reaction, Renji charged at him once again. This time, however, he moved much quicker, almost disappearing for a few seconds before appearing behind Ichigo and slamming him square in the back with the end of his Zanpakuto. Ichigo was sent tumbling for a moment before regaining his ground and propelling himself towards Renji. Ichigo's blade came in at the side, making an attempt to slice Renji in half, only for him to block the attack once again. However, this time Ichigo had a backup plan. "Getsuga," he growled, **"Tenshou!"**

In a blaze of dark red energy, Renji became engulfed by the suddenly blast of Ichigo's attack. He was sent flying back much like how Ichigo was a few moments ago before regaining his balance. Renji had a few burn marks on his body with bits of his uniform being tattered. "What the hell was that?" he snarled.

"Something I was hoping to save for later," Ichigo replied. Renji couldn't help but smirk as the two used this time to catch their breaths. "You've gotten stronger… I'll give you that," said the Lieutenant.

"Thanks… I've been working on it."

"Let me ask you something Ichigo. Do you want to save Rukia that badly?"

"Dumbass," responded Ichigo, "I didn't say 'I wanted to save her.' I said, 'I have to save her!'"

Renji chuckled at the response before initiating a surprise attack as he sent Zabimaru straight towards Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo didn't react in time as the blade came crashing down on his left arm, creating a deep gash in his left shoulder. "Don't make me laugh!" Renji shouted in rage. "It's your fault that Rukia lost her powers! That's why her sentence is so heavy!" the lieutenant retracted the blade before sending it back straight towards Ichigo's stomach. Fortunately, Ichigo didn't have to move very much to block the attack, but was sent flying through another building behind him. Renji was coming at him like a wild animal. "Don't you get it! It's all because of you that Rukia is going to die! What right do you have to say you want to save her! Quit fucking around!" Renji whipped Zabimaru horizontally, sending Ichigo sailing into the stone walls near stair case to the Senzaikyuu.

Ichigo was now beaten and bloody from the beating he had unexpectedly received from Renji. He was now having a difficult time standing up on his own two feet let alone trying to see straight. Blood dripped from his body and on to the ground, creating a small puddle at his feet. "I already know all that," Ichigo spoke quietly. "That's why I have to save her!"

Ichigo used Zangetsu to push Zabimaru away from him using nothing but sheer will power. "Damn you," Renji cried as he withdrew and sent his blade at Ichigo once again.

"I can see it," Ichigo thought to himself. "At least three times." At that moment Ichigo had a flashback to his training with Kisuke.

* * *

 **Flashback:**

"All attacks have a beginning and an end. There is always a limit to the number of consecutive attacks. Like there are six shots in a pistol and a rocket only firing once, any combination of attacks has a limit. It doesn't matter if he hits less sometimes, the important this is knowing the limit. When a fight gets rough, the enemy will always attack using the highest number of possible hits."

* * *

 **End of Flashback:**

Zabimaru was sent sailing right at Ichigo. "One," he thought. He then slashed Zangetsu just before the attack could make contact with its target sending it flying another direction. "Two." Renji then tried to retract the blade, but found that Ichigo had snagged it with his Zanpakuto, enabling him from doing so. "Three."

Ichigo then charged at with Zangetsu raised high above his head. "It's over, Renji!" However, just before Ichigo could land a hit, Renji side stepped almost instantaneously leaving Ichigo to cut nothing but air.

"Like I said, Ichigo. You can't win."

"Fucking cock tease," Ichigo said to himself before getting slashed by Zabimaru once again causing him to fall in and out of consciousness and collapse to his rear. Ichigo was too stunned to do anything as all he could ask himself was, "How?"

"You seemed to be puzzled about how I dodged your attack." Renji walked up and stood triumphantly over the laying body. "Your strategy and execution of the attack was perfect, but why couldn't you hit me? The answer is simple: you're too slow. You and I are at completely different levels, do you understand?" Renji raised Zabimaru high into the air as he prepared his final strike, to kill Kurosaki Ichigo. "You can't save Rukia, because I am going to kill you right here." With a swift slash of his blade, Renji finished Ichigo off. However, the blade stopped right before making contact with Ichigo's body.

There sat Ichigo with his hand gripping Zabimaru by the blade, stopping it from killing him. "Sorry, but I'm afraid that's going to have to wait." There was suddenly a burst of Spirit Pressure from Ichigo, pushing Renji away from Ichigo as he got back on his feet. "Because now, I'm going to be focusing everything on defeating you."

"What the hell is this?" thought Renji as he watched the event unfold in front of him.

"Getsuga… **Tenshou!** " screamed Ichigo as he slashed at Renji's torso. The attack went right through his Zanpakuto like it was butter. He just stood there incased with the pain in his body before he let out one last yell of adrenaline.

Soon after that, he then began walking slowly towards Ichigo as he began mumbling to himself. "Now that I think about it, I was probably just scared because I… damn… I really am a tramp, down to the very bone. I hate myself. I bark at the stars, but… I don't have the courage to jump and grab them." He then looked at Ichigo with a glare that was neither of hatred or anger. He then charged at the hybrid and grabbed him by the collar. "I never once won… against captain Kuchiki. Ever since Rukia left… I trained every day, but I still fail. He's too strong. Fighting to get Rukia back is nothing but an impossible dream to me." Ichigo remained silent as Renji let his heart out freely. "Kurosaki… It's probably shameless for doing this, but I have to ask you. Please… you have to save Rukia!"

Ichigo just stared at the broken down man before him. There wasn't any other answer for him to say. "Of course." That was all Renji needed to hear before passing out from blood loss. Soon Ichigo himself felt a little lightheaded as his vision became more and more blurry. "Well… shit…" Ichigo then blacked out and collapsed to the floor.

* * *

 **Sup guys, Constant Cycle here. I know it's been a while since the last update mainly because of school work. I didn't do as much editing on this one as I had hoped mainly due to time constraints and wanting to give you guys something. It's going to take a bit longer for chapters to come out now with edits, but bare with me people. If you guys didn't like this chapter as much as the others, I completely understand. The whole purpose for doing this is for you guys and I hate not giving you my best work.**

 **As usual, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you guyyyyss next tiiime!**


	7. An Epic Showdown

In the chasms of Wandenreich, there laid a sleeping form resting upon his throne. His body was thin, covered up by a black coat. His long black hair fell to his to his back with a large moustache covering his cheeks and upper lip. In his sleep, he was dreaming. Dreaming of destroying the Seireitei once and for all, killing the Soul King to recreate the world as he imagined it should be. This dream of his had been occurring a lot as of late, though it never ends in his success. Every time he sits where the Soul King once ruled a figure would stab him through the chest. A figure clothed in gray holding a large Zanpakuto. He could never see his killer's face; only his outline. This greatly displeased him.

This time however, his dream never even made it to that point. It stopped halfway through as total darkness incased the landscape. His dreaming figure searched to find any escape route only to see a flame, burning in the darkness merely twenty feet away. The flame was small, gentle, like that on the end of a lit candle, but what made it special was its luminescent blue color. Despite the innocents of the fire, the king sensed a great sense of danger emanating from it.

The flames gradually began to spark like electricity. With each second, they began to appear more rapidly. Soon, the flame began to sparkle like the tail end of a firecracker bursting in the pitch-black. As the light grew brighter, a figure from behind it began to appear. Its skin was black, like the rest of the terrain, but it had scales that reflected the light of the crackling flame. All that could be seen of the figure was its chest and upper stomach. A low growl gargled from the figure as a tail whipped across the king's view of the flame extinguishing it in the process. There was silence, not a sound was made between the two in the dark.

The eyes of the creature opened to reveal glowing yellow orbs seemingly hovering in the darkness. They soon began to move. Closer and closer they came towards the dreaming man. His body was unable to move, whether due to a spell or fear. All he could do was stand and watch. As the eyes stood no more than a foot away from him a sharp pain was felt in both his chest and back. The sensation of liquid running down from his mouth could be felt on his chin and lips. Looking down, he saw that he had been impaled by the three-pronged tail of the creature. Before the man awoke from his nightmare the creature said one last thing in a deep, menacing voice. "Hell has been awakened." Yhwach then finally woke up from his nightmare.

"Are you alright your majesty?" asked the blonde man who stood beside him. "Did you have that dream again."

The king was in a cold sweat, but kept his calm demeanor. "Something has changed the future," he said with fear in his voice, "I fear that something truly terrifying will soon be among us."

 **Soul Society:**

"He… he won…" Hanatarou stared in absolute disbelief at Ichigo's unconscious body. He had actually managed to beat one of the strongest lieutenants in the entire Seireitei.

"Ichigo!" shouted Ganju as he rushed over to aid the hybrid. "Oi! Are you alright Ichigo! Answer me!"

A faint whisper could be heard exiting Ichigo's mouth as Ganju screamed to see if he was okay. "What… do you… think…" A small smile appeared on Ganju's face as he was relieved to hear that Ichigo was still alive and still very much had the energy to crack jokes.

Hanatarou looked at the laying body of Renji with the look of surprise still on him. "Lieutenant Abarai… lost…" He looked at Ichigo who was being lifted over Ganju's shoulder. "Ichigo. Just what exactly are you?" Something suddenly snapped in Hanatarou's brain to attention as he sensed that there was something quickly approaching their location. "Someone's coming! Three people! No, four… maybe even five!"

"Damn it, in this state we won't even stand a chance! Hanatarou, we gotta get back to the hideout now!" exclaimed the Shiba. With that, the two ran away with the half-conscious body of Ichigo.

 **The Sewers:**

Orihime and Isane were sitting patiently for the group to return. Both were starting to be overcome from the fatigue of their day. It had been a long day.

It had been about an hour since the three had left and Orihime was becoming increasingly worried about the safety of Ichigo as well as the others. Realizing her lack of faith in her friends she shook her head trying to rid herself of the negative thoughts dwelling in her head. "No, Ichigo is strong. Of course he will come back," she told herself as she clenched her fist in an action to pump herself up.

Isane was in a similar state of mind, but for a different reason. Though she was hoping for the success of saving Rukia, she couldn't bear the thought of having her coworkers get hurt as well. Judging the amount of time that the two had been waiting, she began to fear the worst had already happened.

Orihime took note of the expression on the lieutenant's face. She knew what she was thinking, and she could understand her uncertainty for the safety of her comrades. "Don't worry Kotetsu-san. I'm sure your friends will be alright," she said trying to comfort the woman.

"I don't think you understand. As members of the Seireitei guard, it is an obligation to protect our home. Even if it means fighting to their death." Orihime's sad gaze turned to the ceiling of the sewers. She hated the idea of a person losing their life and she still wasn't fully certain that the Hollow within Ichigo wouldn't go on a rampage, but she had to have faith in her friends. "You seem to hold your friend Ichigo in high regards. Why?" asked Isane, "Why is he so special to you?"

The question that came seemingly out of nowhere caused the auburn-haired girl to turn red. "W-W-What do you mean?" she stuttered.

"I mean you've been talking a lot about this Kurosaki for the good amount of time we've been here. What's he to you?"

"Well, um, you see…" Orihime was having a difficult time finding words to say as her head began to emit steam from the heat of her blush and her face becoming as red as her hair. Seeing the girl in clear distress Isane began to panic as well. "I-It's okay, you don't have to answer my question!" exclaimed the lieutenant, waving her hands in front of her in a freaked-out state.

As the two tried to calm themselves down, loud footsteps suddenly could be heard echoing through the sewer system. The two remained silent as the echoing of the footsteps became louder and louder. Serious expressions dawned on both of the women's faces, becoming tense as the situation unfolded. From the sound of it, there were two people approaching and they were coming in quickly. Orihime stood up to prepare herself for battle.

After several seconds of listening to the footsteps, Ganju and Hanatarou both popped out from around the corner, both dirtied and scratched up. Orihime was relieved to see that they all made it back, but when she noticed that Ichigo's body was held limp over Ganju's shoulder she began to panic.

"Don't worry Orihime, he's very much still alive," stated Ganju, "In fact, I'd say he's quite lucky on how shallow the injuries he received are considering how intense his fight with the lieutenant got."

"Wait. He fought a lieutenant?" thought Isane. "Which one did he fight?" she asked.

"He fought Renji, Kotetsu-san," said Hanatarou.

"Hanatarou? So it was you who got captured by the Ryoka. Are you helping them?" questioned Isane in surprise.

The meek Soul Reaper gave a bashful smile as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "S… Sorry Lieutenant."

Remembering that Ichigo had fought Renji, her thoughts went right back to her main concern. "Is Renji okay?"

"He was bleeding quite a lot when I saw him, but I'm sure he will survive once he reaches the fourth division barracks," Hanatarou reassured his commanding officer.

"What about Ichigo's condition?" asked Orihime bringing the attention back to her friend.

"He needs medical attention pretty badly." Ganju set down Ichigo's body giving the lieutenant her first good look at the man who had caused so much noise in the Seireitei. Upon seeing his face, her eyes widened in fright. He bore the mask of a Hollow, the same creatures with no sympathy, no remorse, and were enemies to the survival of all souls. He possessed by the mask of the one enemy that Soul Society had.

"Orihime, you never told me he was a… a Hollow!" She shouted in terror as she scooted to the furthest point she could go inside the barrier away from Ichigo.

Hanatarou attempted to make the lieutenant understand that Ichigo wasn't a soul-hungry monster. "Kotetsu-san please calm down. He wouldn't hurt any of us." However, his words were not getting through to his commanding officer's head. "Kotetsu-san please!"

Orihime could understand her reaction. She felt the same way when she first saw Ichigo. She was scared and confused when she saw this new form of his. She was confused as to why Ichigo had become one of the monsters that her brother had turned into? Why did he give up his humanity? But she pushed away those thoughts because she couldn't give up on her friend without giving him a chance. She wasn't one to reject a friend because they've become something different, that just wasn't right for her. Over time she began to grow fond of this new Ichigo, he was a lot more charismatic, and a bit more fun to be around. Besides, his heart hadn't changed at all. He was still the Ichigo she knew and loved.

"Kotetsu-san," spoke Orihime in all seriousness. "I'm sorry for not telling you about that earlier. He may look like a Hollow, but all those things I said about Ichigo are still true. He's kind, and caring towards everyone, even if they don't see him as the same. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover Kotetsu-san. He's still the same Ichigo I've been telling you about. Please, just trust me on this ." Her words slightly calmed the frightened lieutenant as she looked at Orihime with wide eyes. "I'm going to need to release you in order to heal Ichigo. Please, just calm down." Isane nodded though she still in a frantic state of mind. Orihime then moved the barrier around Isane to place it over Ichigo to heal him with her Soten Kisshun.

However, as soon as she did so, there was a clang of metal that came from behind her. "Run, Itegumo," said Isane as he Zanpakuto became three pronged blade which mimicked that of a snowflake while she gave off more Spiritual Pressure than she had previously. Ganju then pulled out his butcher knife-like sword and stepped in between Orihime and Isane to prevent the Soul Reaper from attacking.

"I knew this Soul Reaper couldn't be trusted, but did anyone listen? No," he grumbled sarcastically.

"Kotetsu-san! Please stop!" screamed Hanatarou. He didn't want to see any more bloodshed today, especially more caused by his own friends.

"Isane. I know you're scared. I was too." Orihime didn't look back at the situation unfolding behind her. She knew what was going on just by the sound of it, and she was too focused on healing Ichigo to turn around. "But he's not a Hollow. He's my friend and I will do my best to protect him just like with you and your home."

Isane tightened her grip on her Zanpakuto as she stared intensely at the hybrid. Her hands were shaking with uncertainty as he knees and arms began to feel heavy. She let out a roar and frustration before she lifted Itegumo high over her head causing everyone to get tense. They knew they were not strong enough to take her on, but if it meant protecting Ichigo, they were willing to take that risk.

The lieutenant's arms suddenly went limp as they fell to her knee level with her Zanpakuto dangling from her fingers. She couldn't bring herself to do attack Ichigo. "I can't," she said as she began crying. "I can't do it." Tears were now streaming down like waterfalls from her eyes. Her thoughts went back to Ikkaku's words before she got captured, "I really am pathetic.

Because of Ichigo's broken mask, a smile could be seen curling across his lips. He turned his head to see Isane. "You're not pathetic," he said lightheartedly. "You're anything but. You're compassionate, kind, and most of all understanding, and that is something to be proud of. Instead of crying, hold your head up high and delighted with what you are because…" he paused for a moment to choose his words, "I'm sure you're a spectacular person." His words went straight into Isane's heart as her mind process what he had just said to her.

"Ichigo!" yelled Orihime in excitement as she released her Soten Kisshun to hug Ichigo's lying body. "You're okay!"

Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at the childish behavior of his friend as he hugged back. "You bet I am." The group suddenly heard crying as they turned to see Isane collapsed to her knees, sobbing profusely. "O… Oi, are you okay?" asked Ichigo in surprise.

"I show you such mistreatment and you're still being nice to me," said as she tired wiping the tears off her face. "I'm so sorry *sniff* for everything I've done to you. Please *sniff* forgive me-he-he." She was now balling her eyes out as she begged for forgiveness.

As she continued sobbing the group looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do to help the situation. Finally, Ichigo let out a sigh. "Orihime, could you bring her here?" With a nod, Orihime helped Isane up to her feet and walked her over to Ichigo. She was crying too much to resist Orihime as she brought her to the orange haired teen. She then sat beside him as she tried to wipe away the tears with her sleeve. It was then when Ichigo lifted his sore and tired arms up to the crying lieutenant and tried his best to wrap them around her. Isane didn't make any attempt to resist Ichigo's action, she just let him proceed with his embrace. He then brought her head to his chest as she lied down parallel to him. "Sh sh sh," Ichigo hushed as he patted her head to calm her down, "It's okay. Just let it out." Ichigo couldn't help but notice how tall she was, but that didn't matter right now. He just wanted to comfort the crying Soul Reaper.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." She said repeatedly as she cried. Ichigo just brushed her hair with his hand while continuing with his hushes to calm her. There was a slight hint of jealously coming from Orihime as she watched her crush care for the woman, but she knew it was only natural for him to do so. It was in his brotherly nature to care for a hurt soul. She wanted to be the one nuzzled into Ichigo's chest and be told that everything was going to be okay, but she guessed her turn would have to wait. She then noticed Ganju grinning like an idiot as he looked at Orihime's jealous expression which caused her to blush steam from her head. He knew what she was thinking, and her reaction had only caused him to grin even wider.

Only a minute had passed before they noticed that the sobbing had stopped. They checked the two on what had happened only to see that both Isane and Ichigo had fallen asleep. Upon seeing this, the group began to feel tired themselves. "*Yawn* I think it's time to get some shuteye," suggested Ganju.

"I think that's a good idea," supported Hanatarou.

 **The Next Morning:**

"What the hell is _this_?" thought Ichigo in silence as he found himself lying flat on his back on the concrete ground with not only Isane sleeping beside him, but Orihime as well. On top of that, the two were pressed up against him with their arms wrapped around his. "How did this happen!" He then heard a soft moan coming from Orihime as she leaned closer into Ichigo's side. He then felt a soft warm sensation encasing his right arm.

Ichigo began blushing like crazy. He was too scared and embarrassed to let any of the feeling of his friend's breast process in his head. He was panicking too much for his nerves to feel them. He then remembered seeing something like this on television once, and that was when he truly went pale. "I've seen enough anime to know where this is going," he said to himself, "and this is not going to end well for me."

Isane's body began to stir as her eyes fluttered open to see the face of a very nervous Ichigo. He was so nervous in fact, that he was sweating like crazy. "He's so close," she said to herself, not thinking much of it. "Good Morning," she said with a tired look on her face.

"Y-yeah… Good Morning to you too," he said stiffly.

She was confused as to why Ichigo was acting so stiff, but she got distracted when she then felt something tense between her breasts. Looking down, she saw that his arm had been incased between her cleavage. It took a while for the information to process in Isane's head, all the while Ichigo was begging the same few words repeatedly in the back of his head. "Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

As soon as she put the pieces together, her face became as red as a tomato. The two laid in an awkward silence without saying one word to each other. Ichigo closed his eyes, bracing himself for a slap across the face, but it never came. When he opened them, he saw Isane still laying in the same position with her blush still very much on her face. "S… Sorry," said Isane in a whisper as she continued to stare at Ichigo's arm, trying not to look at his half naked body.

"Y… Yeah, it's okay," he said, still a bit embarrassed at the situation. In the back of Ichigo mind, he could help but draw parallels with the lieutenant and his sister Yuzu in behavior. They were both kind, shy and little bit adorable in Ichigo's eyes.

Isane let go of Ichigo's arm and slowly stood up so that she wouldn't wake up the others with the echoes of her movements. However, Orihime soon began to wake up and a similar feeling came back to Ichigo as he went stiff again. "Oh no," he thought. For sure this time he was going to get slapped.

"*Yawn*… Ichigo?" she said in confusion.

"Good morning!" he forced out as he began sweating bullets once again.

A similar reaction occurred with Orihime as she noticed how she was positioned beside Ichigo. Her face became the color of her hair as she let out a small 'eep' which was the most adorable thing Ichigo had heard in a long time. She quickly shot up and bowed apologetically for whatever she had done. This caused the others to wake up.

"What's with all the noise?" complained Ganju, rubbing his eyes awake.

"Nothing!" shouted both Ichigo and Orihime. The suddenness of the response caused Ganju's eyes to widen.

 **Sometime Later:**

The three Ryoka stared at the round object in Hanatarou's hand in question. "The heck is this thing?"

"This is a special energy pill designed to keep the members of the fourth division working even when they're tired," explained Hanatarou. Everyone looked at him with skepticism.

"Then why does it have a skull on it?" asked Ganju.

Ganju's question was completely ignored as Hanatarou kept going. "Look, when I swallow one, my strength will miraculously return." He then proceeded to swallow the pill. The only effect that was evident was that his tired face suddenly lit up, but only slightly. He then stood up and brushed himself off. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait just a second!" shouted the two guys.

"What?" Hanatarou said in confusion.

"What do you think! Are you sure it worked!" They both shouted.

"What are you talking about? Don't I look completely re-energized?"

"Not at all," stated Ichigo.

"I think you got ripped off," suggested Ganju.

Orihime just nodded her head in agreement saying, "Un un."

"I think we should all just get going," recommended Isane.

 **Foot of Senzaikyuu:**

"Good no one's here," observed Ichigo as all five members crawled out of the secret passage.

"A fight took place here yesterday and they didn't assign anyone to guard this area? That's a bit weird," said the meek Soul Reaper.

"Maybe they think that the enemy won't attack in the same place twice so quickly," implicated Ganju.

"Maybe."

"Hey Ichigo, do you think your four-eyed or your Hispanic friend are doing alright?" Ganju asked.

"I'm sure they're fine. Both of them are much smarter than me. They will avoid any fight that they aren't confident in winning. There is no need to worry."

"How do you know they're even alive right now?" asked Ganju with a dead serious expression on his face.

"Of course their alive. I can feel it. Both of their spiritual pressure, I've felt it ever since we landed in the city. Plus, I cannot imagine seeing Chad ever losing to someone," Ichigo stated with full confidence.

"Shall we get going?" asked Isane. The group nodded in agreement as they all began climbing the stairs to the Senzaikyuu. It took a while, but the group was finally almost to the top of the staircase. "Damnit! These stairs are way too high and steep!" complained Ganju. "How high is this thing anyway."

"We're almost there Ganju, now stop your complaining," commanded Ichigo. "We can take a break once we reach the top."

Once they reached the top of the hill, they all took a quick break. "Hooray, we made it!" Ganju was rejoicing at their minor achievement. Upon looking around the area, he noticed something. "And no one's here either."

"Good, we'll do a full-on charge straight in there," the hybrid said. As they ran towards the door, they felt an avalanche of spirit pressure collapse on them. "Where the hell is this spiritual pressure coming from? What the heck is this?"

Isane recognized this immense energy that was being exerted on to them. Every alarm was going off inside her head as she began to panic. She knew who was watching them. "We need to go, now!" she shouted at the rest of the group.

"They're finally here," said a large figure sitting on a rooftop. "Oh, and even squad four's lieutenant is helping them." He was only slightly surprised by this discovery, however, he didn't really care so much about it. He had only come for one thing and one thing only. "So, which one was it again?"

"This is so weird," thought Ichigo. "No matter how fast or far I run, I still feel so close to the source. It's as if he's constantly holding a sword against my neck."

Suddenly, Hanatarou tripped over nothing, falling to the ground without any real explanation other than the relenting pressure being forced upon him. "What are you doing!" shouted Ganju.

"Sorry, I'm out of energy," he said in utter fatigue.

Ganju ran back to help the fallen Soul Reaper, slinging him over his shoulders like one would with a sandbag. "You really are a troublesome guy!"

As the group continued to run, Ichigo suddenly felt a presence appear right behind him, whispering into his ear, "Is it you, Hollow?" It was then when Ichigo managed to pinpoint the location of the source. Kneeling on the edge of one of the buildings stood the monster of a man staring greedily down at Ichigo filled with nothing but bloodlust. "What's wrong? Don't just stand and stare." Suddenly, the sensation of a sword could be felt traveling through Ichigo's chest. He had felt immense pain only for a moment, but then the sword that the wound was gone.

Ichigo, panting heavily, gripped the area on his chest where he thought he had been stabbed. "What the Hell was that? Illusions from his killing intent? It felt so real."

"Are you Kurosaki Ichigo?" asked the man, no, the monster. He then suddenly appeared behind him in a flash.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?"

"Oh? Didn't Ikkaku tell you about me?" Memories began to flood his head as he recollected his conversation with Ikkaku. It was then when he realized who this monster really was. "I am captain of the eleventh division, Kenpachi Zaraki." He gave a bloodthirsty grin. "I have come here to kill you."

"Thanks, for clarifying that. I've been expecting to fight you since I heard your name." Ichigo then jumped back and pulled out Zangetsu. Ichigo held his ground as he waited for the captain to do something.

"So, does that mean we can finally start now?" Kenpachi was applying more and more pressure on the group as it became difficult for even Isane to stand. Looking back, he saw that both Hanatarou and Orihime had fainted from the sheer amount of force being placed on them.

"So, this is how powerful he truly is," thought Isane in pure horror. "He truly is a monster."

Ichigo saw tears being forced out of Hanatarou's eyes as saliva slowly drooled down the side of his horrified face. "Hanatarou!" He shouted in worry.

"Don't be stupid… Ichigo…" Ganju said as he struggled to pick himself back on his feet. "We're just a little stunned by the pressure. We'll be fine. Stop worrying about us, and don't look back. If you do, you'll die in an instant."

"Oh! He's drooling!" shouted a childlike voice from Kenpachi. The child suddenly appeared on Ichigo's shoulder without him even noticing. "Waa, Ken-chan really scared him! Poor thing!"

"The Hell?" thought Ichigo as he tried to attack the pink haired child on his should. Before he could even come close to hitting her she jumped off and landed in front of the captain.

"He got angry," she said innocently as if she had ruined her chance of having a new friend.

"Idiot, of course he'd be angry."

"Waa! Isane-chan! You're here too!" she said in a pleasant surprise. Isane just gave a weak smile and waved at her friend as she tried to stand up as well.

"Ganju, Isane! Take Hanatarou and Orihime out of here! He obviously only wants meet. I'll try and stop him while you guys continue your search for Rukia!"

"By yourself!" yelled Ganju in disbelief.

"Ichigo, you can't win against him. He's way beyond your level!" yelled Isane.

"Shut up! I don't want any of you guys getting hurt! Just go already!"

They stood there hesitantly for a moment, contemplating on what to do before they finally decided to follow Ichigo's command. Isane picked up Orihime and Ganju picked up Hanatarou and ran away as fast as they could. The two "monsters" stood their position as the group ran as far as they could away from the conflict. "Please be safe Ichigo," prayed Isane.

"So, you really are only after me huh, Kenpachi." Ichigo was become nervous as he arms rattled for a moment from the amount of power the captain was producing.

"Of course. You're the only one who's worth fighting. I don't give a damn about your friends. They can die elsewhere for all I care. Now," he pointed his chipped up Zanpakuto directly at Ichigo, "fight me Hollow. Entertain me for a little bit."

Ichigo growled in anger, "I'm not a Hollow." He twirled his Khyber blade and held a steady grip using only one hand to hold Zangetsu. He was still using up a lot of energy just to stay standing under the spiritual pressure of Kenpachi, but he was gradually becoming used to it.

"Oh, then why do you have a Hollow mask?" he said.

Ichigo just smirked under his visor. "It comes with the power."

Kenpachi's bloodthirsty smile only grew from Ichigo's words. "I must say, not bad for a beginner. Your stance looks good. There's a lot of openings, but your high spiritual pressure makes up for most of it. Our lieutenants wouldn't stand a chance against you. No wonder you took down Ikkaku."

"Thanks," Ichigo replied.

"However, you're still far weaker than me." Kenpachi began contemplating on what he should do. "How about this? I'll give you a chance." He spread the top of his Shihakusho to reveal his bare chest. "I'll give you one chance to attack me. Anywhere you want, but don't hold back."

"What do you think you're doing!" shouted Ichigo. "I'm not going to attack someone unarmed! Are you making fun of me!"

"Of course I'm not making fun of you. This is just a handicap. It certainly is kind of you, not wanting to attack an unarmed man, but you should save your sympathy for someone else." His look became a glare of dead seriousness. "Don't be so stuck up. Just enjoy this. Killing and being killed are just a way to pass the time. So come at me! Neck, stomach, eye, anywhere! It'll be better if you kill me in one blow." Ichigo remained hesitant as he stared down the maniac with his yellow eyes. "What are you afraid of! Come on!"

"Fine!" Ichigo shouted. He then charged towards the captain at full speed. "You asked for it! Don't regret it later!" He was now right in front of the captain with his blade lifted high over his head. With full force, Ichigo brought down Zangetsu slashing right through Kenpachi's shoulder. "Getsuga… **Tenshou!** " The attack had made contact and cut right the man's chest causing him to bleed profusely. From the power of the blast the captain was sent skidding back, but he still stood on his feet.

The grin of Kenpachi disappeared due to confusion. He paused for a moment to put his hand on the gash to see how deep the cut was. Zaraki's bloodthirsty grin appeared once again, this time it was larger than it had ever been before. He began to laugh manically. "Now you have my attention!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

He then lunged at Ichigo at top speed and slammed his Zanpakuto into Zangetsu. "Yes… Yes. Yes!" he shouted. "This is exactly what I've been waiting for!" Using nothing but brute force, the attack sent Ichigo flying into one of the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"Oh, so Ichi's sword can actually cut Ken-chan! Now Ken-chan can have some fun!" She let out a little laugh from how happy her captain filled with enjoyment.

Ichigo tried to push himself out of the crater he had made, but Kenpachi charged straight at him again before he could do anything. He smashed his Zanpakuto into Ichigo's this time, sending him straight through the wall. The clashing of their blades created thunderous sounds . Finally, after some time, Ichigo found his footing and began going on the offensive against Kenpachi. He charged and slashed Zangetsu towards the captain. Kenpachi had managed to block it with a psychotic grin on his face. They were at a standstill as their weapons were locked with one another.

"You know Ichigo. Here I was expecting to fight you to pass the time, but this… this is much more than I had ever hoped for!" He then parried Zangetsu once more to stab Ichigo's hip. The attack made contact and passed through Ichigo's skin, but it wasn't as deep Kenpachi thought it would be. Utilizing the distracted captain's shock, Ichigo slashed once again at the eleventh captain's chest, making a gash as deep as the previous one. They both jumped back to analyze their wounds.

"What was that just now?" asked the captain. "My attack was stopped before it hit your vitals."

Ichigo was trying to catch his breath before explaining his ability. "Tetsuhada. Iron skin. It's an ability I discovered when training with Kisuke Urahara."

"Kisuke? Did you say Kisuke?" he repeated before laughing hysterically. "So you were taught by the outcast of Soul Society! To add on to that, you learned how to use Hierro. I must say that's pretty impressive."

"Hierro? What's that?" Ichigo asked as he glared at the captain.

"It's an ability only Hollows can use, but only the strongest can utilize it," explained the captain. "To think I'd be fighting a hybrid! This is truly the greatest day of my life!" Using all the strength he could muster, Ichigo pushed Kenpachi back and ran off to hide away from the psychopath. "Running away won't save you! I will find you!" Before Ichigo disappeared around the corner, he heard him say one last thing. "You can't hide from me!"

After a few minutes, he found himself at a dead end, but something didn't feel quite right. Ichigo felt that something had gone missing. "Oh no," he said in a panic, "Chad's Spiritual Pressure… It disappeared." Ichigo was now truly horrified about the situation, he was being over powered by the captain and had no chance of winning, and now his friend is possibly dead. "Impossible!" he thought. "Not Chad. Did he lose? Is he dead? I don't believe it… He couldn't've lost. Chad wouldn't lose to anyone!" He tried harder to search for his friend's spirit energy. It had taken a few minutes, but much to his relief, he could sense a small amount of spirit energy being omitted. Ichigo looked up at the sky. "He's alive. It's weak, but I can still sense it."

"Knock knock," said a growly voice, interrupting him from his train of thought. Ichigo turned to face Kenpachi with determination filling his being. "Are you done running away?"

A cocky smile appeared under the Hollow mask. "You bet your ass I'm done." He then ran full speed into the captain smashing Zangetsu into Kenpachi. There was so much power behind and was so quick the attack that the captain was sent flying into a wall. "Seems like you're still underestimating me. You haven't eve release you Zanpakuto." The smile from Kenpachi's face disappeared. "What are you thinking? You're bleeding more than I am. If you keep holding back, I'll definitely beat you."

"My Zanpakuto has no name," he stated as he pulled himself slowly out of the wall.

"What…"

"This is the only form of my sword. I didn't put any seals on it. This is the true form of my Zanpakuto." He then pushed himself out of the wall and prepared to attack once more.

"Good to know. That means you won't get any stronger."

"So?" Zaraki appeared right in front of Ichigo with the tip of his Zanpakuto clanging into the flat end of Zangetsu. "So what? So you will win if you try a little harder? You're the one who's underestimating me. The reason why there is no seal is because my spiritual pressure is so great that even the strongest seal won't do anything, and when I fight, I just hold back on how hard I swing." There was suddenly a much greater disperse of Spiritual Pressure being placed on Ichigo's shoulder. It was once again difficult to stay standing. "Do you see? If I don't hold back my enemy will become so weak that I can't enjoy the fight."

Ichigo felt a large increase of force come down onto Zangetsu. He did everything he could to push back the pressure, but his strength was no match against the captain's. Thinking that the situation couldn't get any worse, Kenpachi's sword broke straight through Zangetsu stabbing straight into Ichigo's chest. "Your spiritual pressure has become weak because you saw a chance to win." The captain withdrew his blade causing Ichigo to fall on his knees in defeat. "What a boring end."

Ichigo was now hyperventilating from the shock of being stabbed straight through the heart. He was huffing and puffing, doing the best with his regeneration powers to keep him alive. "Is this it?" questioned Kenpachi. "How dull." He turned around and began walking away.

Ichigo could feel himself coughing up blood as he watched the man walk further away. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it! I can't die yet! Not here! Not now!" He tried to move his body. Pieces of his mask began to break off as he felt in the slow process of dying. "Move! Move damn it! Stop bleeding! I have to stand back up and fight! I have to save Rukia!" It was then when Zangetsu appeared in all of his white glory.

"Hey King. I see you got yourself in quite the pickle." He gave his typical crazed grin as his yellow and black eyes stared down at his wielder. "You've gotten pretty weak haven't you King. What do you say I take over for a little bit, let you relax while I take care of him for ya?"

"No…" said Ichigo, struggling to form words under all the pain. This response pleased Zangetsu. To see that his wielder still wanted to fight. "Do you still want to fight?" he asked. The question surprised Ichigo a little as he stared at his Zanpakuto's form. "Do you want to fight? Or do you want to live? Choose."

"Neither," Ichigo growled which confused his Zanpakuto spirit. "I want to win," he said quietly.

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't here you." Zangetsu cupped his hand over his ear pretending to be hard of hearing.

"It's pointless to just fight, and it's pointless to just live. I want to win!" Ichigo screamed at the top of his lungs.

Ichigo's white version of himself smiled at the answer. "Very well." A white shadow burst from Zangetsu back as it began to encase Ichigo. "Prove it to me." Ichigo's spirit was suddenly send to a different place. Looking around he noticed that this was the same place where he had met Zangetsu. He also noticed that he was standing on the edge of one of the buildings causing him to fall on his back against the window. "What are you doing?" Zangetsu asked.

"What are you saying? I could have fallen to my death just now!" Zangetsu couldn't help but laugh at the response. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just your answer." Zangetsu wiped away the tears of laughter. "There's no need to be worried about that anymore. When you were turning into a pure Hollow, your inner world immediately started to fall apart piece by piece. Now, it's fixed." Zangetsu turned to stare off into the distance of Ichigo's inner world. "You've gotten strong. Very strong. However, you haven't even come close to scratching the surface of your power, let alone mine." Zangetsu turned around to toss his weapon form at Ichigo while another one appeared in his hand. This one was pure white as opposed to Ichigo's pitch black. "Now prove to me you want to win. If you don't, then I will take over your body."

Ichigo looked at the weapon in his hand for a few seconds before taking his battle stance. "I will." The two charged at one another colliding their blades at speeds that would be difficult to see through the naked eye. With each strike, sparks would fly in the air. Though they were attacking one another, there was no hint of aggression in any of their collision. There was no malice, or anything at least on Zangetsu. Just a Zanpakuto and its wielder battling each other. Ichigo was filled with determination to prove that he was worth of Zangetsu's power, but he couldn't help but notice that something seemed… off.

"Getsuga!" they both shouted, "Tenshou!" a beautiful display of red and black colliding together created a truly breath taking sight.

As the dust cleared from the explosion, the two jumped back to assess how much damage they had inflicted on one another. It was apparent as the two looked at each other who was winning the fight. Ichigo was covered in scratches, bruises, and cuts. Along with that he was the only one who was out of breath. Zangetsu on the other hand, he didn't even break a sweat. Ichigo became frustrated, but it wasn't because of the evident difference between power. It was because of something else entirely. "Zangetsu… why are you holding back?"

The familiar cocky grin appeared on the white copycat's face. "So you noticed, huh?"

"Of course I noticed! I may not know what you are capable of, but I'm sure as Hell that you are much more powerful than this!" Yelled Ichigo with anger. "Now answer my question. Why are you holding back!"

"Ichigo," Zangetsu said as his grin disappeared. "Do you think you can instantly become friends with a stranger just because they told you their name?"

The question through Ichigo off guard for a moment as he stared at his Zanpakuto spirit in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"It really is a simple question," Zangetsu replied. "You still only see me as a weapon. Perhaps you've forgotten my words when we first met. You are just as much of me as I am of you. I am a part of your soul, Ichigo. I am you, but you still haven't fully accepted me as your power." The Zanpakuto spirit lowered his weapon and held it loosely in his grip. "To answer your question, Ichigo, the reason I'm holding back is because it's pointless to show you the power you're capable of if you won't even accept it."

Ichigo was stunned. The thought had never really crossed his mind nor did he fully understand what his Zanpakuto was talking about. He thought he had accepted him the day he got his powers back. So what was Zangetsu talking about

Zangetsu let out a sigh of disappointment upon reading Ichigo's confused expression. He shook his head. "You've abused the powers I've offered you and you still distance yourself from me. You even said it yourself, that you're not a Hollow even though I've given you their powers. It's as if you fear that being a Hollow automatically makes you a bad person. I could have been the being that you constantly feared, never knowing when I'd take over your soul to use it for my own personal reasons. That could have forced you to become stronger as an individual, but at some point, you'd reach a barrier. That is why I tried to make you accept me rather than fear me, because I know that together we can achieve new heights beyond any Soul Reaper or Hollow. But that goal will never be reached if you can't fully accept who you truly are."

"Zangetsu, I…" Ichigo couldn't find any words to say. He now realized that he did indeed fear his own power, his own soul. He too became disappointed in himself. "I'm sorry. For everything." Ichigo looked down at the ground. He never really did fully accept his Zanpakuto as his counterpart. "I should have let you in the moment you told me you were my Zanpakuto. I should have realized that just because a person's a hollow, doesn't make them a bad person." His memories brought up his experience with Orihime's brother as an example for his words. "Maybe, when we have some time, we just can talk. You know, finally become friends."

Zangetsu suddenly appeared in front of Ichigo using a bizarre speed enhancing technique before giving Ichigo a light, friendly punch in the arm. "Yeah, that'd be nice." Zangetsu then clapped his hands together as his iconic smile appeared once again. "Alright, enough of this mushy bullshit. I want you to get out there and kick that captain's ass! You ready!"

"Absolutely."

As Kenpachi was walking off, he soon felt something rising from behind him. Soon, a burst of spiritual pressure exploded from the supposed dead hybrid. "What the hell? This spiritual pressure!" he said to himself. Turning around he saw Ichigo back on his feet with his mask quickly being reformed into its usual look. He was teeming with energy, more than before, which excited the captain very much. "What happened? His spiritual pressure was fading, but now there's more than ever before!" He looked at the wound that he had inflicted on Ichigo's chest. "The wound is healing. How?" Ichigo moved quickly, appearing directly in front of the captain and struck him on his left shoulder.

Zaraki attempted to swipe at Ichigo, but the attack was negated by Ichigo's Zanpakuto. "I can't push him back!" Ichigo then parried the attack and slashed at the captain's stomach sending him flying back into a wall. He couldn't help but laugh in excitement.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kenpachi," Ichigo said with a straight face. "But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to wrap this up quickly."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho, I've been waiting for this." Kenpachi then charged head first towards Ichigo. Ichigo stuck Zangetsu in front of him thinking that it would force the captain to back off, but he went straight into it, cutting the side of his face in his attempt to stab Ichigo's. "I love it! How did you do it! How did you revive yourself! How did you become so much stronger! I don't get it at all, but that doesn't matter at all! Right now, we should just enjoy this fight." Kenpachi kept applying pressure on Ichigo even though he was the only one getting hit by attacks.

"You're crazy! Do you like fighting that much? Aren't you afraid of getting injured or dying!"

"I'm crazy? You're the one who's crazy! How can you be so strong and not like fighting! Have fun! Death and pain are the cost of having fun!"

Strike after strike. Slash after slash. Kenpachi just wouldn't go down no matter how much of his blood was spilled. Much to Ichigo's surprise, he still had then energy or the ability to laugh in joy as more and more gashes were inflicted on him. "This is the best! An even fight. No, it's only a slight difference, but you are definitely stronger. How long has it been since I had such an uplifting feeling?" Kenpachi reached for the eye patch around his right eye. "With you, I think I can fight at full power!" With that, the captain tore off his eye patch.

A huge burst of energy blasted throughout the entirety of the surrounding area sending a shockwave within a large radius. A blinding yellow aura of energy surrounded the man and shot straight up like a pillar of light into the sky. The spiritual pressure that Kenpachi possessed was now fully released.

"The Hell!" thought Ichigo. "!" Ichigo was shocked by this sudden scale of power as he scowled at his opponent. "That's just dirty. We come this far and you still have and ace-in-the-hole. What's the secret about your right eye?"

"Secret? Right eye? Hah. Who'd use such a pansy-ass cheap trick." He lifted the eye patch to show the many mouths on the inside. "This is something I had the Research and Development Bureau make. A monster that endlessly consumes spirit energy."

"That's disturbing," thought Ichigo.

"All the spiritual pressure I've been feeding to this thing" he slashed his sword against the tall structure next to him, cutting it cleanly into two before the entire structure crumbled to pieces. "I'm going to pour all of it into killing you."

Ichigo just kept his straight face as he stared at his opponent. He then closed his eyes. "Do you hear it, Ichigo?" asked Zangetsu. "Do you hear the screaming of the blade?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said as he gave a sorrow filled look at the captain's Zanpakuto.

"He cannot hear it. If the two who do not trust each other fight together, they only damage each other's power. One who believes in nothing but his own power cannot understand that." Zangetsu placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Ichigo, do you trust me?"

"Of course. I'll put all of my powers into your hands. You can use it any way you'd like, but in return, give me your strength."

Zangetsu could help but smile at the growth of his wielder. "Of course." Zangetsu put his hand on his Zanpakuto form. The spiritual pressure of Ichigo suddenly skyrocketed to the same level as Kenpachi with a red and black aura encasing him.

"Hah! We've come this far and your spiritual pressure still goes up. Interesting."

"Yeah it'll go up. I'm borrowing Zangetsu's power and fighting together with him." His spiritual pressure increased even more. "I'll never lose to someone like you, who never tries to fight any way but alone."

"Zangetsu? Is that the name of your Zanpakuto? Borrowing the power from their Zanpakuto and fighting together with it? What a load of bullshit. Zanpakuto's are nothing but tools for war. 'Fighting together with your Zanpakuto' is a line for a sickly little bitch who can't fight with his own damn skill! It ain't a line for you and I, Ichigo!" Zaraki let out a roar of power as he revealed his full power to Ichigo. The energy itself seemed to form a skull behind the captain.

"He's coming," stated Zangetsu. "You're healing ability is now at its limit. We will decide this with one last attack." Ichigo followed the same action as Kenpachi as he gathered all of his spiritual pressure which created the image of his Hollow mask behind him. "Then let's agree to disagree, Kenpachi." With that, the two ran full speed towards each other screaming at the top of their lungs with their blades gathering up with energy. "Getsuga…" Ichigo growled right before they were directly in front of each other. Their blades then clashed, creating a monstrous burst of energy which was blinding to the naked eye. **"Tenshou!"** The two were then encased in a dome of red energy destroying every building within their proximity to be destroyed. The sheer power behind the collision felt similar to that of an erupting volcano which could be felt from miles away.

Once all the dust cleared, there stood the two titans of power with their blades locked in each other's flesh with blood pouring out of their open wounds. There was a tense silence between the two as Kenpachi pulled his sword out from Ichigo's stomach and Ichigo pulled his out of Kenpachi's shoulder. "Damn," said Kenpachi as the two stared their opponent down waiting to see who would collapse first. A small laugh escaped the captains mouth as he rested his Zanpakuto on his shoulder. "You really are strong, Ichigo." A fountain of blood sprayed from the where Ichigo had laid his last attack before Kenpachi's Zanpakuto snapped in two.

Ichigo fell to his knee as he tried to catch his breath, resting his weight on Zangetsu. He was still half conscious, but he was losing all of his senses. Everything was becoming blurry. "I did it. I won." Without warning, the pink haired girl appeared right in front of him. Ichigo became a bit freaked out upon realizing that there was still Kenpachi's lieutenant to get through to reach his friends, but he was in no condition to fight. The girl gave him a cold stare as Ichigo waited for her next course of action.

"Thank you very much!" exclaimed the little girl as she bowed. Question marks suddenly began to randomly appear at a rapid speed in Ichigo's head.

"What the hell? Where did these things come from?" Yelled Zangetsu who was now back in Ichigo's inner world.

"Thanks to you Icchi, Ken-chan had a fun fight." She raised her head to give Ichigo a warm smile. "It's been a long time since I've seen Ken-chan having that much fun! Really, thank you."

"U…Uh, don't mention… it…" he struggled to say. The little pink haired girl walked over to her captain to pick him up over her shoulder. "Well there's something you don't see every day."

"Ichi, if you can, don't die, okay?"

Ichigo could help but laugh at the innocence of the little girl and how she contrasted her captain in so many different ways. "I'll… do my best."

"And if you can, play with Ken-chan again, okay? Please." He shuttered at the thought of facing Kenpachi again. As much as Ichigo liked growing stronger, he would have let that opportunity pass. The two then disappeared.

Ichigo kneeled there for a few minutes as he tried to get his body accustomed to pain inflicted on him. He then stood up the best he could, using Zangetsu as long cane to help support his weight, and began walking. "Oi! King! What are you doing!" shouted Zangetsu.

Blood was pouring out of every open wound as trudged himself along. From the sides of his lips, the red liquid leaked through as he smiled. "I'm going to help my friends," he said simply.

"You're in no condition to move Ichigo! Just rest! You've done your part! Just rest so I can heal you!"

"You can heal me while I move, can't you?" he said as he continued his way through the passage leaving a trail of blood that lead to him.

"It doesn't work that way!"

As Zangetsu continued to nag Ichigo about him needing rest, he had covered quite some distance on his way to his friends. He had actually made it to a new area where the buildings weren't destroyed. Things were going pretty good until he noticed that the nagging of Zangetsu stopped. "What is it?" he asked.

"Someone's watching us," Zangetsu replied.

Ichigo looked around as he too began to notice a light discrepancy in the spiritual pressure around him. "Show yourself!" he shouted. There was no response the first time causing Ichigo to question his judgement, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "I know you're there!" Still nothing. Ichigo was becoming quite irritated. "Listen, as much as I'd like this to go on, I've got places to go to and people to meet, so would you do me a favor and just show yourself already!"

The person then stood up from their hiding spot to reveal themselves to the Ryoka. "This is as far as you go, Hollow," the person said. Looked up, but his eyes had to search the entire area to find the person. It took several seconds, but eventually he found his culprit.

From atop a building, there stood a petite woman with black hair that had two braids with golden rings at the end. The design of her sleeveless shihakusho made her look of Chinese origin as she wore a yellow Obi round her waist. She had an enduring scowl across her face, much like how Ichigo's used to have. With her white Haori, it was evident that she was a captain. "Hey Zangetsu," said Ichigo as if he had stumbled across a sudden realization. "I think we found the female version of Byakuya." Zangetsu suddenly busted out laughing at the joke Ichigo had made. Unfortunately for him, as of this moment, it hurt to laugh.

"What's so funny, Hollow?" the captain called from her position.

"I just find it funny how hard it is to see you up there! I can only imagine how short you'd be down here!" Zangetsu once again exploded with laughter as Ichigo continued to mock her.

A tick mark appeared on the captain's head as she gritter her teeth in anger. "You insolent brat," she hissed. "You will regret those words!"

"Kind of like how you regret not drinking your milk!" Zangetsu couldn't take it anymore, he was laughing so hard that he was experiencing a side ache as tears were escaping his eyes.

The petite woman was becoming rightfully pissed off from the behavior of the Ryoka. She unsheathed her Zanpakuto which just so happened to be a wakizashi. "It's impressive that you still have a sense of humor even as you're bleeding to death."

"Heh, this isn't the first time death has come knocking at my doorstep," he said with a cocky grin. It soon disappeared when he noticed his breathing became more rapid and shallow. "Shit, I don't have enough strength to move." He fell to his knee as more blood leaked from his open wounds. "God damn it," he thought while gritting his teeth.

A sarcastic laugh escaped from the captain's lips when she noticed Ichigo's strength beginning to diminish. The captain appeared before Ichigo in an instant with the tip of her blade pointing directly at Ichigo's throat. Her face was devoid of expression as she glared at Ichigo in both disgust and annoyance, like an insect that just wouldn't die. "The name of your killer is Soi Fon, captain of the Stealth Division."

Ichigo's yellow eyes stared at the blade pressed against his neck. Using the hilt of Zangetsu, he knocked the blade away without any hint of hesitation to reveal a cocky smile once again plastered on his face. "Sorry miss, but if you think that I'll go down quietly, you are greatly mistaken."

Soi Fon jumped back a few feet as she saw the bloodied figure of Ichigo rise back up to his feet. "What is it that drives you to keep fighting?" Soi Fon asked. "You can barely stand on your own two feet, and you're bleeding to death, but yet, you still are willing to fight. It's nothing short of a miracle that your legs are still managing to support your body."

"It's like I said before." Ichigo raised his bloodied Zanpakuto and pointed it in the direction of the captain. "Death isn't an unfamiliar thing for me." The captain just clicked her tongue against her teeth in annoyance. She lowered herself and charged straight towards Ichigo. The two began clashing their Zanpakutos sending sparks to fly in every which direction. Things were pretty evenly matched in the beginning. However, Soi Fon kept putting pressure on Ichigo, pushing him back further and further. He did his best to block the captain's strikes, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to hold his own. Her strikes weren't as powerful as Kenpachi's, but her movements were a lot more refined and deadly. He couldn't find any openings in her fighting style.

Though he was doing quite well defending himself, it was obvious that he wouldn't last very long if things kept going as they were. He was becoming lightheaded from the blood loss and his movements were becoming sloppy. All of a sudden, Soi Fon stopped her attack and jumped back, giving distance between her and Ichigo. "I don't think you try understand how hopeless your situation is." Ichigo glared at the woman with uncertainty. "Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi." Her Zanpakuto glowed white from a moment while the transformation of Shikai commenced. Knowing what that meant, Ichigo didn't waste any time to try and land at least one hit before she released her Zanpakuto. He charged at the captain as fast as he could towards the woman, but his strategy had little success. The transformation had finished before he could even reach half way.

Out of nowhere, Ichigo got roundhoused in the side of his head which sent him flying into one of the nearby buildings, creating a crater that outlined his broken down body. "What… the hell…" he thought as he looked at the new form of the stealth captain's Zanpakuto. It was a black and gold gauntlet with a thin golden chain connecting to a stinger like blade that incased Soi Fon's middle finger. "This can't be good," he thought while pulling himself out of the building.

Once again, the captain seemingly teleported from Ichigo's view only to appear behind him. She then kicked him square in the back, sending him stumbling forward only for Soi Fon to appear once again in front of Ichigo to upper cut him in the jaw. The fight soon became a game of pinball as Ichigo was sent stumbling left and right, forward and back only to be sent in another direction by Soi Fon's attacks. Her attacks were powerful too, breaking through his hierro like it was nothing. The worst part was that she was hitting every single injured part on his body causing him ten times more pain than what the attack would have normally done.

Finally, after a few minutes of being nothing but a punching back, Ichigo collapsed to his knees. "Shit," he thought, "not again." He was exhausted. He had faced two captains back to back without any rest, and now the injuries were taking a toll on both his body and his mind. There he sat bloodied and bruised, with only a small piece of his Hollow mask still intact. "I beat Kenpachi only to die here! This can't be happening! I won't accept this!" He couldn't even grit his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration, but all he could do was stare at the ground and wait for his demise.

"You've done well to get to this point, Hollow," she complimented. "However, even from the beginning, you never stood a chance against me." She then jabbed the blade around her middle finger into Ichigo's chest. When she pulled out, a beautiful butterfly imprint was appeared on Ichigo's chest. "Any last words, Hollow?" she said as she wound her arm back, preparing to strike once again. The only thing that came out of Ichigo's mouth was a large amount of blood he coughed up. Though his body still somewhat stood, he had fallen out of consciousness. "Very well." She then guided her middle finger into Ichigo's chest.

Soi Fon had then suddenly felt something grip her wrist. It was Ichigo's hand, it had caught the strike a mere centimeter away from his chest. Ichigo lifted his head to look up at the captain for her to see that the whites of his eyes had become pure black and that parts of his mask were beginning to reform on his face. Ichigo's face now dawned a bloodthirsty grin he stared intensely at the woman. "Sorry miss, but it seems King is a little too tired to fight right now." Without warning, "Ichigo" swung his zanpakuto straight across the captain's stomach. Soi Fon had tried to dodge the attack, but was unsuccessful due to "Ichigo's" firm grip on her hand. The attack made contact right across her chest and stomach. It was a shallow wound, thankfully, but it still caused a lot of blood to start leaking out. "In the meantime, mind if I play with you for a bit?"


	8. You learn Something New Every Day

Yoruichi had been covertly surveying the entirety of the Seireitei for the past two days. So far, things had been running smoothly for her. On the first day, nothing occurred that was out of the ordinary. Everyone's spiritual pressures were remaining strong and very much alive. From what she could sense, there was nothing for her to worry about, with the exception of Ichigo.

Not even twenty minutes in the invasion, he was already causing mayhem against two powerful Soul Reapers. It could sense his spiritual pressure waver a little bit, but she knew the Ichigo would pull through in the end. Seven hours later, the feline sensed an influx of Ichigo's spiritual pressure once again, this time against a much stronger opponent. Judging by the amount of energy his opponent possessed, she would guess that the carrot-top was facing against a high leveled lieutenant which slightly worried her.

She waited for about twenty minutes to determine how the fight would end. As the fight began to meet its end, Ichigo's spirit pressure skyrocketed, but there was something strange about its presence. There was something faintly different about it. For a fleeting moment Ichigo's powers were more hollow-like, at least more than. This raised a few alarms in the cat's head before her train of thought was pushed aside by the teen's sudden drop in spiritual pressure to the point where it almost disappeared. Fortunately, it stopped right before the point of no return and gradually returned to normal state. Yoruichi released a sigh of relief as she returned to what she was doing before.

The next morning came like a train. She had woken up from a cat nap to a monstrous amount of spiritual pressure that seemed to rock the entire Seireitei. Upon searching for the source of this immense power, she discovered that the power belonged to none other than Kenpachi Zaraki, the monster of the Seireitei. Suddenly, another burst of energy exploded near the captain's location.

"Ichigo?"

The power just continued to go higher and higher to a level she never thought Ichigo could reach without Bankai. "He still doesn't have Bankai yet, right?" she asked herself. Realizing the trouble that Ichigo was now facing, she stood up from the tree she rested on and sprinted to where the battleground was. As she ran, she sensed Ichigo's energy begin to diminish again to a point near death. This time however, his spiritual pressure went off her radar. This caused her to worry as she thoughts of him being dead began to appear in her mind. Because of this, she began to run much faster than before. It took a little longer for her to reach in her feline form, but she had managed to make it to where she lasted sensed the explosion of spiritual pressure. Upon arrival, all that was there to be seen was a large pool of blood gathered up in a giant, smoking crater.

She began to panic. "Where did he go?" she asked herself before notice a trail of blood exiting the crater. Hiding her presence, she followed the trail from the rooftops.

* * *

 **Back to the Fight:**

"What is this?" Soi Fon rhetorically said as she placed her hand on her wound. She then brought her attention back to the Hollow who had dawned a new personality. "What happened to you, Ichigo Kurosaki!" she commanded, "Not ten seconds ago you were on your knees bleeding out from your wounds! Who are you!"

Her question was met with a laugh that could only be described as insane as she watched every bleeding part of Ichigo's body heal at an astonishing rate. "I'm no longer Ichigo Kurosaki," the spirit's voice gargled through his sinister grin. "I'm Zangetsu. And let me tell you, seeing you beat up King like that has really pissed me off."

Soi Fon clicked her tongue as she widened her stance for battle. To the naked eye, she disappeared in a flash then reappeared directly in front of the teen in an attempt stab him in the back. With incredible reflexes, he spun around and blocked the strike with the flat part of his zanpakuto, creating sparks from the clashing of metal. However, the captain expected this as she flung her leg into the opening on Ichigo's right side and kicked him in the side of the head. He was sent skidding sideways for a few feet before finding his ground again. He seemed relatively unfazed as his psychotic grin remained plastered on his face. "Damn, you pack quite the punch," said the hybrid as he wiped a bit of saliva from his lip. "Too bad your attacks won't do shit."

The captain gritted her teeth as she let her anger get the best of her and charged at the possessed body of the hybrid. He showed no intention of avoiding Soi Fon's charge as he let almost every strike hit him. The only times when he made an effort to block an attack was when Soi Fon tried to stab him with her zanpakuto. The comedic part of it all was that every time Soi Fon hit the teen, he would give the most nonchalant responses which only furthered the captain's frustration. A blow to the head. "Ow." A knee to the stomach. "Ow." A kick at his arms. "Ow." A spinning kick to the legs. "Ow." Finally, she punched him in the chest, sending him stumbling for a few feet. There was a moment of silence before the teen looked back at the petite woman with mischievous smirk on his face. "Ow."

"Why won't you just stay down?!" The captain yelled in frustration as she charged him for one last attack. "Just die already!"

The snickering of the teen echoed to the captain's ears as he waited for the right moment to take action. The captain's attack was negated in the most unthinkable way it could have happened. With extreme precision, the tip of her zanpakuto had been stopped by the point of Ichigo's Khyber knifelike sword. Her eye's widened in shock at accuracy of Ichigo's aim. "You know," said the teen, "there's a gay sex joke I could make right now about how we're touching tips, but that's beyond me."

In a buzz, he was gone from the captain's field of vision. "Shunpo? How?" she thought. The stunned captain then received two taps on the shoulder and before she could turn around, the back of a fist crashed into her face sending her flying into a wall. As Soi Fon crashed into the side of a building, Ichigo appeared in front of her and slam his fist straight into her gut, pushing her through to the other side of the structure.

Her body skidded across the stone ground, scraping off some of her skin and tearing pieces of clothing before coming to a stop. Her lungs felt like they were going to collapse as she coughed from the previous attack. The force of the punch caused her to feel like throwing-up while saliva drooled out of the sides of her mouth. "Shit." That was all she could say as she tried to lift herself up from the ground. Her vision was becoming blurry as she began to fade in and out of consciousness.

This was very unusual for her. Normally, she could take a few punches, but the sheer force behind each strike was like getting hit by a small train each time. She was taken by surprise by the thing's strength and she paid the ultimate penalty, it was too late to change anything now.

Just as she propped herself on her hands, she was kicked in the stomach like a football by Ichigo's foot. Her limp body went hurdling across the open area until she collided with another stone structure. This time however, her body didn't penetrate through the stone and instead just bounced off and fell lifelessly to the ground.

"How does it feel?" asked the being controlling Ichigo. He squatted down right beside her. "Must suck to get your ass kicked and to be knocked around like a punching bag, huh?" he said rhetorically. Though she couldn't see it, Soi Fon could tell that Ichigo had a large, cocky grin plastered across his face. "I didn't even have to use my Zanpakuto." With his left hand, Ichigo grabbed the captain by the throat and lifted her up against the wall.

Soi Fon struggled as she tried to free herself from Ichigo's grip, but her body was too broken to move from her previous beating. All she could do was grit her teeth and struggle to pry Ichigo's fingers from her neck, but the teen's grip was too strong. Her fight or flight mode kicked in as feeling of suffocation clouded any form of reasonable thinking.

"P-Please," she said weakly. Her eyes were turning red as they began to tear up from her lack of oxygen she was getting. The muscles in her body began to restrict as she felt her veins become smaller. Her will to fight was slowly fading as the sound of her choking gradually became faint. Things were beginning to get fuzzy for Soi Fon as her eyes rolled to the behind her sockets. She had nothing. She was not only defeated, but also humiliated. All Soi Fon could do now was allow death to take her. Thoughts began to rush her mind as her life flashed before her eyes. There was suddenly a sinking feeling in her chest. She felt regret. Regret for not being kinder to her subordinates, regret on being unfriendly to her fellow captains, regret for not seeing Yoruichi one last time. All these things just flooded her mind as she began to lose consciousness.

Just as her life was about to escape her, the grip around her neck was released. She fell limply to the ground with a thud. She could finally breathe again. A reminiscing taste of blood that could be felt in the back of her throat as she coughed profusely. Ichigo just stared at her with an expressionless gaze as she recovered the air that she had lost. After a few seconds, the coughing stopped. "Well, I guess my work here is done," the teen said as he turned around.

"Why?" the captain said weakly. He turned back around to look at the woman lying flat on her front. "Why didn't you kill me?" Judging by her voice alone it was clear she was about to pass out from exhaustion.

The echo-like voice of the teen just chuckled at the question. "There's a lot of reasons," he said in an upbeat tone. "The first one would be that King wouldn't like if I killed you. It'd also rain like crazy if he found out that a person like you was killed, especially by his hands." He walked up to her to squat down beside her to gently rub her hair. "Plus, he'd probably want a rematch to redeem himself from his loss. And besides, you really want to die in a place like this?" The captain remained silent to the question, but that was enough for Zangetsu to figure out her answer. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now get some rest. King will want you fully recovered the next time he faces you in combat." Hearing his words and not seeing any better options, she closed her eyes and blacked out.

The possessed Ichigo stood above her silently. "You can come out now!" called Ichigo as he moved his mask to the top of his head. There was no response to his shout. "Come on, don't be like that," he said to himself. "I know you're there. I've sensed you since the beginning of the fight. No point in hiding now, Yoruichi."

From around the corner, a young dark-skinned woman with purple hair walked out with a concerned look upon her face. "Ichigo?" she with uncertainty as she stared at the hybrid. All of his previous wounds had been completely healed, vanishing from his body as if they were never there. His voice had changed too. The most obvious change was the slight delay that gave his voice an echolike sound. The less apparent one was the hint of insanity in it which unsettled the dark-skinned woman and sent shivers down her spine.

"You're a woman?" said the hybrid raising an eyebrow in slight amused. His look of surprise gradually turned into a devilish grin as he gave his eerie laugh. "I know King has hit puberty, but don't you think it's a bit too soon to make a move?" he teased pointing out the fact that she was buck-naked in front of him. The frankness of the comment caused the woman to blush slightly as she covered her private areas from the teen's sight "Also no, I'm not King. He'll be out of commission for about two or three minutes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to take over his body...yet," he whispered that last part so that the woman in front of him couldn't hear him.

Yoruichi let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the information before another question came to mind. "Who are you?" she said as she glared at the thing in front of her. She had been warned by Kisuke about this. About a Hollow residing within Ichigo as his power source. She figured at some point he would make himself known, she just didn't expect him to be this powerful. The thing that surprised her the most wasn't just his display of strength, but also how quickly he healed Ichigo's wounds. All that remained of the deep gashes and cuts from his previous fights were the tears in his gray shihakusho which was pretty much none existent at this point.

"I am Zangetsu," he stated which seemed to surprise the woman. "I know. Surprise, surprise, I'm a Hollow and his zanpakuto." His cocky grin slowly turned into a menacing glare. "You're not gonna hurt him, are ya?" The spiritual pressure around them suddenly grew tenfold as the air around her suddenly became harder to breathe in. She felt heavy as her legs struggled to support her weight. Yoruichi had seen a lot and had been through a lot. So much so that she thought that there wouldn't be a thing in the world that could scare her anymore. However, the thing that she was feeling at that moment, it wasn't fear. It was absolute terror. Her body seemed to freeze up as every muscle in her body was telling her to run away, but they were just too terrified to cooperate. She was so tense that she forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. I know you wouldn't hurt King," he said reverting to his normal, charismatic tone. The pressure suddenly vanished allowing Yoruichi to remember how to breathe again.

"What… was that?" The woman thought to herself. She couldn't believe how much power the thing controlling Ichigo possessed. Her body was trembling at the feeling of the spiritual pressure that had been exuded on to her and almost gave her a miniature heart attack. She had been around some of the strongest captains Soul Society in the entirety of Soul Society's history, but this was something else entirely. Unlike the other spiritual pressure's she had felt, this power was much more raw and had a lo in it.

"Oh, that?" He questioned as he pointed behind him, "Yeah that's just a taste of the damage I can do," the teen said as if reading her mind. "It wasn't all of it, probably like a quarter?... maybe a fifth?... Or an eighth… I'm not really sure, but the point is that it's not even close to my full power… Or was it a third?" he questioned as he put his finger to his chin to think about it some more. Yoruichi sweat dropped upon hearing that last comment. "Why did it get bigger?" she said to no one in perticular.

Looking down at the state of his torn up clothing he let out a bothersome sigh. "It's a good thing these things pretty much fix themselves on their own. It would have been a nightmare for a person to try and sew this back up," he said to no one in perticular as he continued to look at his clothing and noticing the lack of blood. "Oh! They clean themselves too!" he pointed out. "Noice."

In all her year, Yoruichi had never noticed how their clothing seemingly managed to remain intact after battles up until today. Now that she thought about it, she never really understood how that worked. She continued this train of thought for a while as she stood with a pondering look. "Hey Kitty-cat," snapped the teen, bringing her back to reality. "Can you come here for a second?" Doing did as she was told and walked over to Ichigo until she was but a foot away from him. "I need you to catch King when I switch out. I don't want him to wake up with a sore head when he wakes up." Suddenly an evil grin appeared on his face. "You can use this time to ogle at King's body while he's passed out, maybe get to know it better than anyone else so you can have the advantage."

Yoruichi couldn't help but smirk at the entity's comment as she thought about 'checking his body for wounds'. He was quite handsome and his reaction to being into contact with female body parts was so adorable to her. The thought of it caused her face to heat up slightly as a little bit of drool leaked from the side of her mouth. Upon realizing that she was drooling, she wiped her mouth and tried to look as professional as she could.

She looked back at Ichigo's face only to see that he had dawned a dumb expression indicating to her that he saw everything that had just happened. The two stood in an awkward silence as a gust of wind blew by. Yoruichi had a slight blush across her face and Ichigo's eyes being overshadowed by his orange bangs.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I was joking. You know that, right?" he finally said.

The mocha skinned woman was completely red-faced and remained silent, too embarrassed to speak.

"Right… one more thing. Can you transform into your human form after he wakes up? It will be hilarious." The blackness in Ichigo's eyes left as his body went limp into Yoruichi's arms. She stared at the unconscious Ichigo for a while. "This better not be a thing," she told herself. The ex-captain looked at the teens face for a little bit before sighing. She then picked him up like a sand bag and ran off to her next location.

* * *

 **Somewhere else:**

"Finally, the spirit pressure has gone down," said a random Soul Reaper as he stood back up to resume his guard duty. Before him was a long and narrow path that lead to a large white pillar where the supposed traitor, Rukia Kuchiki, was held. "What kind of a monster would possess that much power?"

From behind him, he heard a laugh coming from one of his comrades. "What's wrong?" Looking over he saw his friend quaking like crazy as he miserably failed at keeping his composure. "You're trembling all over. How pathetic."

"The Hell are you talking about?! You're the one who's trembling!" the first Soul Reaper argued.

"What! Which part of me is, jackass!" The moment he finished his retort, he felt small drops of a sticky liquid fall on his forehead. Attempting to look up at it, he put his hand on the bizarre substance to see what would come off on his fingers. "What's this? Bird droppings?" He then suddenly let out a sound of shock as all of his muscles tensed up causing him to fall over like a statue.

"Oi, what's wrong?!" his friend shouted. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move on the rooftop above him. Looking up, he saw a silhouette of a short lanky Soul Reaper trying to sneak away from the scene. "There you are you bastard! I won't let you get away!" He then heard a loud thump of something landing behind him. Turning around he saw another man in a green bandana who had come out of nowhere. Before he could react, the man smashed his elbow into the Soul Reaper's face with so much force that he was sent tumbling all the way to the other side of the walkway before crashing into the railing. "I let him get away," the man said weakly before falling unconscious.

A rope from the roof came curling down along as Hanatarou came crawling down it with Isane following suit. "Don't you think that's a bit too much, Ganju?" he said before touching the ground stopping the way of traffic.

Inoue was also on her way down. However, she thought that everyone had already gotten off so she slid down the rope at full speed towards the Soul Reapers. It wasn't until it was too late that she noticed the two still on the rope. Before she could react, Isane got hit in the face by Inoue's rear causing the lieutenant to lose her grip and fall along with it into Hanatarou causing him to fall off too. This caused the two of them to pile up right on top of the poor fourth squad member as he took the fall of both women. "Ow," he whimpered as he waited for them to get off his back.

Ganju, who had watched the whole thing play out walked up to the young Soul Reaper with a grin on his face. "You alright down there?" He only got another groan for a response.

Once the two ladies got off of Hanatarou and apologized to him, Ganju decided to ask him a question. "So, what was that medicine you dropped on that guard?"

"You mean this?" he said pulling out a small vile filled with a green substance. "This is a kind of anesthetic called 'trembling point'. With people of low spiritual pressure, one drop on the skin will muddle their consciousness and they pass out."

A shiver went down the green clad man as well as Orihime's as they both stared at the small container in his hand. "You got some scary shit in there, man…" Ganju said.

"Really?" said Hanatarou in surprise when he noticed that the auburn haired girl was nodding her head in agreement. "Well anyways, let's get going. We may not have that much time." They then crossed the thin bridge to the large white pillar where they met a stone-gray door blocking their way of passage.

"So the entrance is a shutter type, huh?" Ganju said examining the door for weak points. "Now, how to open it…" he pondered for a bit before Hanatarou chimed in. "Don't worry," he said as he reached inside his shihakusho. Ganju looked at his short friend curiously. "Oh? What are you gonna bust out this time?"

Hanatarou then pulled out a bizarre shaped wooden carving that had a rope looped through a hole at the base of it. "Last night, I took the spare key from the cell key cabinet in the underground canal."

"Great thinking Hanatarou!" exclaimed Orihime with delight causing him to blush a little bit.

"It's no big deal, really," he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Are you sure this is okay for you to do?" asked Ganju out of concern.

A sad expression fell upon the young Soul Reaper's face as he looked back at the door. "It probably won't. But last night, I was thinking. Ichigo is always getting torn up fighting and I… well I always just run away. 'I was just pathetic,' I thought…" There was a small pause as a somber mood fell upon the group. "I wanted to save Rukia, too. So, I decided to do everything I could to serve that purpose. Even if I have to face punishment later. But still, stealing a key is the best I can offer. That's why I think I'm pretty useless."

"Nonsense!" shouted Orihime. "You are not useless at all! Think about how much trouble you've saved us by getting the key! You helped us find an underground passage that helped us avoid conflict with other Soul Reapers! You've helped us out in so many ways!"

"If it makes you feel any better, I've basically been running away from all my fights as well," added Ganju as he gave an embarrassed smile. "And it's not called being a coward, it's called knowing your limits. Something Ichigo just doesn't understand."

Isane remained silent with a pleased smile on her face at let the two continue boosting the moral of her subordinate. A sudden realization clicked in her head. She could sense something. Something very close. For her it was a very unsettling feeling. "Hanatarou," she said nervously, "We need to hurry. Something doesn't feel right."

He nodded. "Understood." With that he unlocked the door. Upon doing so, the large stone door slowly slid up to reveal a small lone girl standing in the middle of a dark, cylindrical room. She dawned a surprised look upon her face as she saw the figures standing outside her door step.

"Rukia!" Orihime yelled as she tackled Rukia to the ground in a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she said as a waterfall of tears rolled down from her eyes.

"Orihime?" she said in shock. When she looked at the others she saw the person who had kept her company when she was first arrived from the World of the Living. "Hanatarou? What are you doing here?"

Hanatarou rushed over to Rukia's side and pulled the crying Orihime off of her. "We can talk later! Come on, we need to get out of here." When he turned around he Ganju with an expression of both shock and terror when he saw the person who they were rescuing. "Ganju, are you alright?"

It was then when Rukia realized who the man in shock was. Her old past had seemed to come back and bite her once again. "The pattern on his clothes. An unraveling swirl falling from heaven. Are you… a member of the Shiba Clan?"

"Oh, you two know each other?" asked Orihime.

"Yeah," he said in a low and ominous voice. "I know her quite well. As if I could forget." He clenched his fists with rage as he stared angrily into the Soul Reaper's eyes. "She's," he said with a low growl, "she's the Soul Reaper that killed my brother."

The information was dropped like a bombshell on the group. No one could speak a word because they could quite figure out what to say. All they could do was let the words sink in. Finally, Orihime said the words that came to everyone's mind. "No way."

"My brother's wounds were inflicted by a sword," Ganju continued. "The back of his neck had been slashed and he had been stabbed through the chest. If he had fought a hollow, how did he die by a sword!" he roared. "Back then, she even said this to me… That she'd killed him!"

"Ganju!" shouted Hanatarou in disbelief. "That… That can't be!"

"It's alright, Hanatarou," interrupted Rukia. "He's right."

"Rukia?"

The captive Soul Reaper brought her attention to Ganju and looked at him dead in the eye. "Member of the Shiba clan, without a doubt, your older brother… Shiba Kaien, was killed by me."

At that moment, Ganju had snapped. He charged straight Rukia without the slightest hint of hesitation and grabbed the collar of the white yukata she wore. Gritting his teeth, he was right on the verge of killing her right on the spot. "Go ahead. If it's by your hands, I shall not resist death."

"What did you say!"

"Ganju, stop it!" shouted Orihime before Hanatarou grabbed hold of the man's arm.

"Ganju, please stop! We didn't come here to do that! Didn't we come to save her!" The words were falling deaf to the enraged Shiba's ears as he became one step closer to ending Rukia's life. "Please Ganju! Didn't Ichigo entrust us with his decision!"

"Shut up!"

"Everyone we have to hurry!" Isane suddenly yelled. It was then when a massive wave of spiritual pressure came crashing down on them causing everyone to freeze. "It's too late."

Looking down to the other end of the bridge was a man cladded in a white haori with long, silky black hair walking towards them. His face was emotionless, an empty void of expression. One thing was clear however. He was not friendly.

"Byakuya," she whispered.

Everyone was quiet as they began to sweat just by the mere presence of the captain. "Fuck this!" shouted Ganju in frustration. "I'm not going to deal with that monster!"

"What are you talking about Ganju! We were supposed to get away with Rukia!"

"Are you retarded? Do you see any way out?" he scolded the young Soul Reaper. "This one bridge is our only exit and it's being blocked by one of the most notorious captains in the entirety of Soul Society. And also," He turned around and pointed at Rukia. "Are you telling me to risk my life for _her_?!" he said as he pointed towards Rukia. "She killed my brother! I'm not doing that shit!"

There was a long pause between words as the group couldn't failed to say words that could change Ganju's resolve. "I understand," someone finally said. Everyone turned to where they heard the voice only to see a scared and frustrated Hanatarou clenching his fists. "I guess it can't be helped. There was never a reason for you to save Rukia in the first place. I can see why it would be asking too much for you to stay here. But, if you are going to escape from here, please take Rukia with you!" Ganju felt like he was staring at a completely different person as the boy who was once timid stood before him with eyes filled with determination. "I'll try to hold him off."

"W-what are you talking about?" asked the flabbergasted Shiba.

"I think I understand how you feel. No one would give their life to save their enemies."

"That's got nothing to do with it! You felt the spiritual pressure, didn't you? There's no way we can win-"

"You think that I don't know that!" the boy interrupted. "But I've come this far because I wanted to save Rukia. I can't just leave here knowing that I didn't do anything." He then suddenly bowed his head ninety degrees to show his deepest respect towards everyone. "Thank you all for everything that you have done!" He raised his head with a sad smile across his face. "I'll be on my way." He then turned to the exit and began walking away from the group.

"Don't do it Hanatarou! You can't…" her sentence fell short as she noticed Orihime walking towards the exit as well. "Inoue?" she said in disbelief.

Ganju began to freak out when he noticed the auburn haired girl walking over to catch up with Hanatarou. He immediately reached out to grab the Orihime's arm to stop her. "What the Hell do you think you're doing!"

"I'm going to help my friend," she said without hesitation. She then pulled her arm free from Ganju's grasp and continued on to catch up with Hanatarou. "I don't care what happens to me, as long as I know I did something, that's all that matters."

Just before she reached the exit, Isane then began walking along side Orihime. "Isane?"

The lieutenant rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm probably gonna get fired from this anyways, so hey, why not?"

"Inoue. Lieutenant Kotetsu," Hanatarou was stunned by the support he had behind him. He felt a tear run down his face as he felt a sense of joy as he walked along side two of his friends. Something he never really thought would ever happen to him.

Out of nowhere, the three heard a shouting from behind them. Turning around they saw Ganju rushing to catch up with them. When he stopped he moved in front of Hanatarou and took a defensive stance. "What the Hell?!" he shouted before gritting his teeth. "You trying to make me feel guilty!"

"Ganju!" Hanatarou said with joy before he found himself being picked up by the Shiba and thrown through the air into the entrance of the chamber.

The group was confused by the man's actions as he looked at him with a strange expression. "Avenging my brother will have to wait. Right now, let's kick this guy's ass!" he said, trying to raise the moral of his teammates. "Let's go!"

* * *

 **Somewhere else a little bit earlier:**

Somewhere in the outskirts of the Seireitei, Ichigo was resting a mattress as he recovered from his two death battles with two of the most skilled and powerful members of Soul Society. Sitting beside the teen was Yoruichi in her feline form, staring at the teen with a concerned look upon her face. It had been only several minutes since he was beaten within an inch of his life and yet here he laid without a single scratch on his perfect… chiseled… muscular...

Yoruichi's mind began to wander a bit as she ogled at the Ichigo's partially revealed chest. Catching this, she shook her head to bring her thoughts back to reality. "No! Bad kitty! He's still a teenager! You know better than that!" she told herself as she mentally slapped herself. She then looked back to the carrot top's body with her dreamy eyes. "Well… maybe a little bit more skin wouldn't hurt," she thought as she approached Ichigo's sleeping form with a mischievous smirk on her face.

She put one paw top of his lean chest before Ichigo suddenly shot up from his sleep shouting, "Can you not!" causing the shapeshifter to jump a few feet back. Yoruichi was sweating profusely as she stared at Ichigo who was now sitting in an upright position, but still had his eyes closed. His eyes shot open as he was now finally fully awake. The first thing he went to was his chest as he opened up his shihakusho to check his body for scars, giving Yoruichi the exact view she wanted. "Oh shit! I'm not dead!" he said as though it were a pleasant surprise. He looked around with a confused look in his gaze. "Where the fuck am I?" he said to no one in particular. He turned his head to see a black cat that seemed to be very on edge. "Oh! Hi Yoruichi, what's up?"

The feline cleared her throat as she regained her composure. "Ichigo. I see you're awake."

"Apparently." He gave a half chuckle as he looked at his bandaged-up hands before looking around the room again. "So, I'm guessing that you're the one the one that brought me here," Ichigo said as he looked back at the cat and began petting behind Yoruichi's ears with a cheery smile. "Thanks for that!"

Normally, Yoruichi would strike at anyone who would've dared to pet her with the exception of Kisuke, but she felt no reason to do so now. However, the feeling of his touch was just so comforting for her that she felt that all she could do was embrace it. He just seemed to hit all the right spots. She even felt herself purr a small bit as she nuzzled into Ichigo's hand with a happy smile on her cat face.

"Man, you are one amazing person, Yoruichi," he said out of nowhere. Yoruichi slightly blushed in surprise, but it was hidden away underneath her black fur. "What do you mean?" she asked. Lifted his hand from Yoruichi's head, which disappointed her slightly, to cross them as he turned to face his guide. "I mean, you're so tiny and yet you managed to carry me all the way to where ever this place is."

The cat just huffed and turned its head. "It's easy for me when I turn into my original form," the feline bragged.

"Oh, right your original form," Ichigo said, not fully processing the words that came from Yoruichi. After about a three second pause, the idea finally clicked. "Wait… Original form?"

"Right, I still haven't shown it to you or your friends yet, have I? But before I transform, can you pet my head again?" the cat asked.

Ichigo was getting weird vibes from the cat as his suspicions began to rise. "Why?" he replied hesitantly.

"It's just a simple request," said as daintily as her voice could be.

Ichigo was still unsure. "But why?"

"Just do it!" the cat demanded, putting Ichigo in a panic as he began rubbing the top of Yoruichi's head again. "Ah yeah, that's the spot," the cat said with pleasure causing Ichigo to face palm in embarrassment. "I don't know where this is going, but I know I'm not gonna like it," he thought to himself.

Soon, mist began to emit from Yoruichi's feet. As it raised, it blocked parts of Ichigo's field of vision, but there was just enough for him to still see the transformation happening before him. He was in shock as every feature began to become more human-like as the fur gradually began to disappear. Within a few seconds the cat had transformed into a beautiful, dark-skinned lady with long purple hair and a lean body. The only thing that remained the same from before were her glistening yellow eyes that almost had a glow around them, just like Ichigo's. She sat on her knees in front of the teen giving him a full frontal look at her body. "Well?" the woman asked, "Like what you see?"

Ichigo suddenly felt himself losing air in his lungs as he stared in absolute shock at the event that had unfolded before his eyes. His speech began to jumble around as words were failed to be produced through his mouth as he gawked at the sight before him. "A… a… uh… w-woman?" he said stupidly as his mind continued to process the information. He was so broken that he didn't even notice that Yoruichi was completely naked as she rested before him.

"I see you're pretty shocked," she said with a smug grin on her face as she saw Ichigo's mind trying to put the puzzle pieces together. "Can't blame you. You probably thought I was a man by the way I talked." She then brought Ichigo's hand from atop her head and placed it so that it cupped her cheek. She then proceeded to nuzzle into it as she continued. "No matter how many times I reveal my true form, it always gets a fun reaction. Everyone gets shocked stupid."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I am so confused!" Ichigo shouted as he brought both of his hands to his head to ruffle up the sides of his hair in frustration before dropping his head in defeat.

Yoruichi gave a little giggle at Ichigo's reaction. "Well, that's enough surprises for you. Now I'll show you how I carried you." She began to explain to him how the situation all played out, but the information went way over Ichigo's head upon realizing that she was as naked as a newborn. He felt the temperature in his cheeks increase dramatically with his face became as red as a freshly picked tomato. After only a few seconds to the exposure of the nude female body, got broke. The teen's brain went overload as he passed out once again, this time only half unconscious.

"Ichigo?" she said as she brought her face closer to his own. "What's wrong?"

"N-N-N-N," he stuttered. "N-N-N-Naked." That was the only thing he could manage to say as he became more and more broken by the second. "Right," the mocha-skinned woman reminded herself. "I forgot how innocent you were." She gave a teasing wink to the flustered teen as she went over to a drawer to grab her clothes.

"Sorry about that," she apologized while pulling down a shirt over her head. "I haven't worn clothes in a while so I kinda forgot." Turning back to the flustered teen, he had a long line of red that went across his face. He possessed a slight scowl of frustration from how pathetic his reaction was to the nudity of a woman. "Though I have to admit that was quite the reaction. Was that the first time you've ever seen a woman naked?"

"Shut up," Ichigo mumbled childishly with his head turned the other direction. "It wasn't that funny."

"Are you sure?" teased the shapeshifter. "If you don't look at a firm, young woman now, you might never see one again."

"I said shut up!" retaliated the teen as he turned to look back at Yoruichi.

"Oops," she suddenly said as she raised the front part of her shirt revealing her womanhood to Ichigo who's eyes seemingly bulged from his head. He immediately turned back around, away from the woman. Feeling something begin to leak from his nostrils he brought his hands to his nose. "Never in my life have I regretted a decision as much as I did just then!" he then made an indescribable sound of panic as he tried to plug his nose.

"Aw," she said as she got down on all fours to walk over towards Ichigo. "You know you liked it," she smiled voluptuously. Yoruichi then brought her face beside Ichigo's and began rubbing her cheek against his to show her affection as if she were still in her cat form. She then leaned in really close to his ear to whisper, "You're so cute when you're all embarrassed."

Ichigo let out a whimper as a spinetingling sensation ran down his back from the hot air that blew past his ear. "Please, just stop!" he begged as he felt himself becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

"Daw, now how can I say no to such an adorable request," she teased one last time before going back to putting on her clothes, but not before licking the back of Ichigo's ear. This action sent another shiver down his spine. That's when he figured out that this woman meant trouble for him.

After a little less than a minute, Yoruichi finished putting on her clothes and tied her hair into a pony tail. "Man, clothes are uncomfortable," she said to herself in slight irritation as she tugged her shirt down.

"Can we please just stay focused here? Just for a little bit?" Ichigo politely asked. Yoruichi let out a disappointed sigh. "Thank you," he said as he grabbed the device she was showing him earlier. "Anyways, so you used this flying device to bring me here?" He held up the item he was talking about which looked like a stick with a bird skull on the tip of it with four white bones curving out from behind the head.

"That's right," Yoruichi replied with confidence. "There isn't another like it, not even in Soul Society. Awesome, isn't it?"

After looking at it for a bit, one question raised in Ichigo's mind. "Why is it that you have such a valuable object?" The mocha skinned woman looked at him with confusion. "You can change forms and possess a priceless item." He turned his head to look lock eye contact with the werecat. "Yoruichi… Don't take offense to this, but what exactly are you?"

Her eyes seemed to narrow at the question. "Well-" she was cut short when a sudden avalanche of spiritual pressure came crashing down on them. Both of them were too stunned by the sudden pressure to continue on with the conversation.

"T-This spiritual pressure is…" a maleficent grin suddenly appeared on his face as he realized who it belonged to. "Oh ho ho," he laughed as formed his iconic mask over his face. "That jackass."

"It's coming from the Shishinro, Repentance Cell," state Yoruichi. She then noticed Ichigo standing up and rushing over to the door. "Wait, Ichigo!" she called in a futile attempt to stop him.

"I can't wait!" he yelled back. "Literally everyone is over there! I gotta save them!"

"You're still no match for him."

"Then who else is gonna save them!" He pulled out the contraption that they were previously talking about and held it at his side. He then began sending his energy into the object making it glow a faint white around it. The ribbon-like end wrapped around his arm several times in order to maintain a grip on it and the four pronged ends stretched out forming a wing to spread from the back of the skull. "Fly." Just like that, he was sent flying through the door leaving behind Yoruichi.

She tried to chase after him, but was a bit too late as she watched him fly off. "That idiot!"

* * *

 **Back on the bridge:**

The group was having trouble just standing under the immense pressure of the sixth division captain. None of them had even made a move and yet everyone was panting like they had just ran a marathon. "I sense several faint spiritual pressures moving towards the Shishinro," spoke the emotionless captain. "I was wondering what powerful presence had slipped in undetected. But I see that it was merely nothing."

Everything seemed so heavy all of a sudden as the trio stood motionless under the captain's immense power. "Lieutenant Kotetsu," he said the gray haired woman, "I am disappointed in the path you've chosen for yourself." He pulled out his Zanpakuto slowly from his side. "In any other case, I would have killed you all without my Zanpakuto, but seeing as though you have a lieutenant by your side, I will need to take some precautions."

"Everyone! Run!" Rukia shouted feeling the danger of the situation.

Isane pulled out her own zanpakuto to transform it into its Shikai. "Run, Itegumo!" she called forth her zanpakuto into its released form. Orihime followed suit, immediately creating a barrier between them and the captain which raised a slight interest in him. "Interesting, so you can put up a defensive barrier?" He directed his sword towards his opponents. "Sadly, that won't help you in the slightest."

He then brought his Zanpakuto parallel to his body. "Scatter, Senbonzakura." The blade began to dissipate from sight into flower petals in the wind. There was confusion between two of the group members, but Isane knew exactly what was going on. Having enough time to do so, she began creating a defensive barrier of her own.

Flower petals appeared from nowhere around them as if they were in the prime of Spring. "Run!" screamed Rukia at the top of her lungs, but it was far too late. In that moment, they saw Orihime's shield begin to slowly crack and felt a sharp pain travel through their body. Within seconds, the triangular barrier had completely shattered. All three members started leaking blood from some part of their body as they lost their footing for a moment.

Isane was the least effected. She had seen Byakuya use his zanpakuto before. This allowing her to come up with a solution to counter the attack to take minimum damage, she was the only one who was prepared for the assault. She only received a shallow cut on her left shoulder from the whole ordeal. Orihime, on the other hand, fell to on knee with blood running down her right shoulder and hip with gashes in at least ten different areas, most of which were on her back. Out of the three of them however, Ganju had it the worst. Blood sprayed profusely from dozens of lacerations that instantaneously appeared all over his body. He blacked out from all his cuts and the extreme amount of pain he was experiencing before passing out entirely. A pool of blood began to form around him. Some of it dripped through the cracks of the wooden bridge not allowing a full puddle to form around him.

"Ganju!" everyone cried out.

"Brother, please!" begged Rukia as she fell to her knees from watching all of her friends suffer. "You can't!" She felt tears begin to leak from her eyes, but Byakuya still maintained his expressionless gaze as he raised the hilt of his zanpakuto to as if to swing the final strike.

A hand suddenly appeared grasping the wrist of the stoic captain. "Phew," said the person that the hand was attached to. "My, my. How dangerous," he said nonchalantly. "Why don't we leave it at that, Captain Kuchiki?"

"Captain Ukitake?" exclaimed both Rukia and Isane.

"Yo, Kuchiki. You look thinner that before! You okay?" he said cheerfully. "Wait, Kotetsu? You're here too?" The lieutenant just gave an awkward wave back at the captain before the other captain intervened with the light chatter.

"What is the meaning of this, Ukitake?"

"Oi, Oi, you tell me. Unleashing your zanpakuto in a place like this is a level one forbidden offense," the white haired man explained. "Even if it's to repel a Ryoka, what were you thinking?"

"Wartime exemption allows the use of zanpakutos."

"Wartime exemption?" Ukitake said in surprise. "Has the Ryoka threat really become that serious? Don't tell me a Ryoka killed Aizen?"

Right as he finished his sentence there was a sudden wave of spirit pressure pressed down on them. It was unlike any they had ever felt before. The unfamiliar energy was just that, unfamiliar, foreign. However, Byakuya could sense a familiarity to it, like he had faced it before. There was just something different about it that felt off to them. It didn't feel like that of a Soul Reapers. In fact, it felt more… hollow. "What is this spirit pressure?" questioned the sickly Soul Reaper. "It's clearly of captain level, but it's completely unfamiliar to me!"

"This spirit pressure," Rukia said to herself. "It can't be!" Something then shot up from underneath the bridge and hovered in the sunlight, only showing a silhouette of the figure. It then came crashing down onto the wooden bridge with a loud thump right behind the injured trio. The bizarre contraption in his hand began to decrease in size as he stood squatting on one hand and both his feet. The first thing that come to everyone's field of vision was the red and white Hollow mask that bared a permanent menacing grin on its face. It's yellow eyes then stared right at the two men like they were gazing into their soul similar to that of a predatorial flare.

"A Hollow," the two captains thought in utter shock. "There's no way." Its eyes wandered to the injured group, examining every injury on their body. It then turned to stare at the crying Rukia who was now on her knees.

"Ichigo," said Orihime with a smile of relief on her face as she stared up at the figure.

Hearing the name confirmed the raven haired girl's suspicions as she stared into the fireworks that were Ichigo's irises, but she just couldn't believe what Ichigo had become. "Ichigo," she said with a slight hint of fear.

"Sorry I let you guys go on ahead," apologized the orange haired hybrid. "It must have been rough on you guys." He then turned to Byakuya with an uncontrollable rage flickering in his eyes. "My original intentions were to come here and save Rukia. That was it. But seeing that you've hurt basically every single one of my friends before my very eyes." He pulled out his abyss-black Khyber blade and held it with his right hand in front of him. "I'm gonna ram my black, five foot sword right up your ass."

Ukitake was slightly appalled by the new figure's behavior as he directed his finger towards him. "Friend of yours?" he asked his fellow captain. His question was met with silence which was enough to answer his question.

"Oh, bee-tee-dubs (btw), I'm here to save you Rukia," Ichigo added nonchalantly with his head turned slightly towards the petite girl's direction.

Rukia was still in slight shock at the form of her friend as she stared at him with a hint of fear. She then shook her head, ridding herself of the thought of Ichigo being a full Hollow and coming to terms with his new look. "You idiot," she said wiping her tears from her prior crying. "I told you not to come. I said I'd never forgive you if you did."

There was a pause as everything but the wind remained silent. The mood was intense, very intense. Ichigo had his eye overshadowed by the ridges of the mask's eye holes as he stood motionless with an expression as blank as his mask's. "Ha?!" he suddenly shouted causing a few people to jump out of their skin. "What are you a fucking tsundere? Don't go tsundere on me right now! You know how much shit I had to go through in order to get here!" It was clear that Ichigo was getting a little heated. "Now you look here, I became a Hollow, fought Kisuke for ten days straight, I beat Renji, the big guy at the gate, got shot out of a cannon, and beat Kenpachi and Soi Fon to be here! So you're gonna shut up and let me rescue you!" It was clear that being rejected after all his hard work was making him a little frustrated.

"This kid beat Kenpachi and Soi Fon?" Ukitake murmured in surprise. "Incredible. I hope they're alright."

Rukia was at a loss for words as she stared wide, just like everyone else. She could come up with any suitable comebacks from, all she could do was laugh. "Despite your looks, you're still the same as always, aren't you? You still don't listen to a word I say."

"There's probably a reason for that," Ichigo said blatantly as he picked at his ear with a bored expression.

"What?"

"All you ever do is worry about me. Why don't you worry about yourself for a change? And don't worry about me dying, alright?" He put his hand on Rukia's head and patted it like an older brother would to a younger sibling. Underneath his mask, a cocky smirk curled across his face. "Besides, I think I've gotten a little stronger."

From the other side of the bridge the white haired captain couldn't help but keep staring at the gray clothed hybrid. "Byakuya," he said, "who is he?"

"Nobody," he answered calmly. "Right now, he's just a person that flashed through your mind. He's nothing. Just an ordinary Ryoka. I'll kill him and that will be the end of it. This trifling fight will be over."

"I can hear you jackass!"

The captain didn't respond as he drew forth his sword again and walked towards the hybrid. "Are you really Kurosaki, Ichigo?"

"Call it Ichigo 2.0."

"Then you have only furthered my disappointment in you."

Ichigo squinted his eyes at the captain from his comment. "You're making me very angry right now," he said, putting a lot of emphasis on the word "very". The two began walking towards each other as they continued their banter. "Don't get cocky Byakuya. I can say that things will play out a bit differently than before."

"No matter the situation, the end result will always be the same."

"Yeah, it will end in me kicking your ass and saving Rukia."

Byakuya began to show signs of frustration as his eyes also squinted at his opponent. He then released a load of spiritual pressure around them causing those of lower strength to collapse on their knees. As everyone else struggled to keep their body off the ground, Ichigo just stood with a bored expression on his face as it looked like he was putting minimal effort into keeping his stance.

"Oh? You aren't perturbed by this spiritual pressure. It seems you have improved a great deal." Ichigo just kept the same expression on his face. "I see that you have given up your humanity in order to regain your Soul Reaper powers back. Seeing that you are a Hollow now, I must eliminate you, just like the rest." He paused as a disappointed look fell upon his face. "You came here to throw away your life you so narrowly saved."

The moment he finished talking, a wave of spiritual pressure pressed came full force down on him, taking him by surprise. The feeling of raw power was something he did not expect as he stood there wide eyed. "Oh I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?" Ichigo said, making his best attempt at a Samuel L. Jackson impression.

"Don't talk so big, boy." The captain then suddenly disappeared from sight. But Ichigo knew exactly what was going to happen. Turning around he quickly brought his hand out as if to reach for something and immediately squeezed it into a grip. The moment he did so, Byakuya reappeared with an astonished expression on his face. He stared down at his hand to see Ichigo holding the blade of Senbonzakura with his bare hands. "What?" Byakuya said in confusion.

"You're wide open." Ichigo raised his fist and slammed it into Byakuya's stomach. He coughed all the oxygen in his lungs from the force of impact and was sent stumbling back with a baffled expression on his face.

"What do you think Byakuya? Surprised?"

"Don't get cocky you vermin," replied the captain trying to hold back an irritated expression. "That was just by pure luck. It won't happen again."

"That's an interesting theory that you just came up with. Let's experiment with it." Ichigo charged straight towards the captain full speed with blade at side. Once he reached a distance of ten feet away, the captain suddenly disappeared from sight once again. But Ichigo once again saw right through it. He twirled around to face the other direction and swung Zangetsu full force into what seemed like nothing. Sparks flew from the colliding of blades as Byakuya appeared in the place where Ichigo had struck. "Sup," Ichigo said nonchalantly before pushing the frustrated captain back. "So are you just going to do the same attack expecting different results?"

Byakuya did his best to not respond to that last comment. "This is absolute heresy," the captain said in irritation.

"You know you really suck at killing people," stated Ichigo as he pointed at the unconscious member of the Shiba clan. "Hell, even Ganju is still alive, and just look at him!"

"Silence!" Byakuya raised his sword up vertically where his hilt was eye level. "I will not let a pathetic excuse such as yourself make a fool of me. I'll show you the true power gap between our powers that you could never bridge, even in a thousand years."

Realizing what her brother was going to do, Rukia panicked as she shouted, "Ichigo, get out of there!". She knew in her mind that no matter how powerful Ichigo was, he couldn't compete against what was about to come. But it was too late.

"Scatter," captain said with a serious look upon his face. It was clear he was dead set on trying to kill Ichigo. But, before he could call forth his zanpakuto's name, a narrow white ribbon of cloth twirled around Byakuya's zanpakuto, completely encasing it. A person in orange suddenly appeared, grabbing the ribbon and pulling it with tightly. "You," Byakuya said with venom in his words as he stared at the person in front of him.

"Long time no see, Byakuya boy."

Byakuya's eyes seemed to narrow as he glared daggers at the woman in front of him. "Yoruichi Shihion."

"How did you get here so fast?" Ichigo said in confusion as he looked all around him, trying to figure out where she came from. His search met no answer as another question popped into his head. "How did you stop that attack with such a thin piece of cloth? Does it possess some kind of indestructible property? Are we just going to never talk about this again? What is going on?"

His questions were ignored as the two stared down one another in their standoff. "Former captain of the Stealth Force and captain of Squad One Punishment Force, Yoruichi. I haven't seen you in a while. You've been hiding for over a hundred years. I thought you were dead," the captain said with slight disappointment.

"Okay, I guess we aren't going to talk about it." Ichigo answered his own question before bringing himself back to the reality of things. "Yoruichi, you came to rescue me, didn't you? Thanks, but no thanks. Please step aside as I continue being this guy's Mythbuster."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Mythbuster," he explained. "You know, the TV show where they prove or disprove common myths. Don't you get it? I'm disproving his misconception that he thinks he can beat me. God, do I need to spell it out for you?" Yoruichi just gave him the 'are you stupid' which slightly offended him. "Well I thought it was clever."

"That's not what I'm talking about," she said, "Do you honestly think you can beat him? Is there something wrong with your head?"

Ichigo attempted to roll back his eyes to look at his forehead before looking back at the purple haired woman. "Probably?"

Yoruichi just let out a disappointed sigh before disappearing and reappearing in front of him. She quickly lifted the mask and placed some tablet in his mouth and forcing him to swallow it. Ichigo suddenly felt light headed as he fell forward. With the amount of time he had before falling into unconsciousness, he said one thing. "Damnit." He then fell limp into the dark skinned woman's arms. She then turned her body around and slouched him over her shoulder like a sandbag with his head facing forward.

"Medicine?" asked Ukitake as he finally stepped forward. "You gave him a powerful anesthetic, didn't you? Gaten or hoten?" A serious expression appeared on his face as he asked Yoruichi on final question. "What are your intentions with him, Yoruichi?"

"Nothing you do will help," interrupted Byakuya.

"Is Byakuya interrupting again?" mumbled Ichigo in his sleep. "Tell him to stop interrupting," he said a bit louder as he scrunched his eyebrows. "It's very rude." Everyone was silent for a moment as they looked at the unconscious teen with slight amusement.

"As I was saying," the captain continued, "there is no escape from here."

"Oh, you talk like a big now don't you, Byakuya boy?" replied Yoruichi.

"Eh heh heh heh, she called you a boy," Ichigo commented childishly as a goofy smile sprawled across his face.

"Was Ichigo always this much of a sleep talker?" everyone thought as they stared curiously at the boy.

"Aw, isn't he just adorable when he's asleep," said Yoruichi as she rubbed her face against the sleeping teen's. This caused a weird, unhappy feeling to swell up in Isane and Rukia's chest while the injured Orihime gave a pouty look of jealousy. "Anyways, I'm going to go now. Try and catch me if you can. We both know what our track record looks like in our games of 'Tag.'"

As Byakuya gave a low grumble, the two then disappeared in a flash. They reappeared and disappeared out of sight several times each time in a different location. One moment they were in one place and the next gone. Finally, Yoruichi appeared on the other end of the long narrow bridge. Seeing as though Byakuya was nowhere near where they were she gave a cocky smirk. In an instant, the sixth division captain appeared in front of the woman.

"Did you really think that you could escape with such a slow Shunpo?" Byakuya then slashed at the mocha skinned woman cutting her clean across her chest, but then her body disappeared. All that remained were the orange pieces of clothing as Yoruichi appeared landing gently on the captain's arm.

"Did you really think you could get me with such a slow Shunpo?" Just like that, she disappeared only to reemerge on top of one of the nearby buildings. "Three days!" she called down. "In three days, I'll make this boy stronger than you. This fight is postponed until then. Give chase, if you wish." Another cocky smile graced her lips. "The 'Goddess of Flash' won't be captured by the likes of you." Just like that, she vanished.

"Well, looks like they got away," stated the sickly captain as he continued to stare at the rooftop. He then noticed Byakuya walking away which slightly surprised him. "Hey! Where are you going, Byakuya? Didn't you come here to capture the Ryoka?"

He stopped right before a corner. "I've lost interest," he said not even bothering to look at the person he was talking to. "Do what you want now." He too then walked away from sight.

"My, my, he's as willful as always," Ukitake said as he scratched the back of his head. It was at that point when Rukia finally felt the fatigue of all the pressures forced upon today take their toll on her body. She collapsed the moment everything had settled down.

"Rukia!" shouted the group, rushing over to her aid. "Rukia are you okay?"

The sickly man stared at the group around Rukia with empathy for them. Seeing their injuries, he could tell that they had been through a lot in order to get to this point. Sadly, he had a job to do. "Oi!" he called out the other direction, "Sentaro! Kiyone! Come out here!"

Two figures then came out of nowhere and landed right in front of Ukitake, kneeling before their superior. One was a man with a pointed beard that stuck out from his chin with thick eyebrows underneath a mountain shaped haircut. The other was a short, sand blonde haired lady who was no taller than Hanatarou wearing white gloves. "You called for us, captain?" they said perfectly in sync with one another.

The group looked over at the two, new people that showed up with uncertainty. While the others were hoping to avoid further conflict due to their conditions, Isane was hoping to not have to face one of their opponents for another reason. "Sister," she said with hesitation before she stood up to defend her newly acquainted friends.

"So, you guys did follow me. How long were you here for?" Ukitake asked.

The male of the two subordinates immediately shot up from his position as if he was anticipating the question. "From the time you said, 'My, my how dangerous,' and stopped Captain Kuchiki, Captain, sir!" he shouted.

"So from the very start, huh? Didn't I tell you not to come because it was too dangerous?" the captain responded passively.

"Forgive me, sir!" saluted Sentaro. "I just respect you so very much that I simply had to follow you here!"

The petite woman stood up with a crossed look upon her face. "No fair, Kotsubaki!" she yelled. Kiyone immediately scooted her way in front of the man. "Captain! I feel the same way! I love y..." Her sentence fell short for a moment as a blush overtook her from not fully thinking the words that came out of her mouth. She shook her head, trying to rid the thought from her head. "No, no! I respect you very much!" Ukitake just stood there with a blank expression on his face as he watched his subordinates giving their affection to him.

"What?!" bellowed the man in irritation. "I respect him much, much more than you, by far!"

"Shut up, Mt. Fuji-head!"

"Wanna fight, booger face!"

"Be my guest!"

Ukitake just rubbed his head at the display of the, unfortunately, usual shenanigans that happens day to day with him. "Well, whatever then," he said. "Anyhow, Kiyone, contact squad four. Four apprehended and three of the four injured."

"Yes sir!"

"Send for advance relief squad immediately." This surprised the group to hear that their conditions were going to be healed by the people who they thought deemed them enemies. "Sentaro, you take Kuchiki back to her cell."

"Understood." The man then walked passed the captain to stand before the group still attempting at saving Rukia. "Move," he said.

"No! We can't let Rukia go back in there," gritted Hanatarou as he clutched Rukia's body.

"I said 'move,' you shithead! You think I'm doing this because I want to!" he shouted stunning the group by his proclamation. "Now move."

The group looked at who they stood against and decided that it was the best idea not to get on the bad side of someone who had not only saved them, but was trying to help them, in some sort of way." The group then separated from their friends sleeping form and let the man pick her up and take her back to her cell. It was difficult to do so, but it was in their best interest.

As Sentaro pick her up he said a few words. "Sorry, Kuchiki. The captain and I will appeal to the top brass afterwards, and get you out of this cell. Be patient until then." This confused the trio as they watched the man walk off. Were they really helping their cause?

"Isane," said the woman from behind them. The two siblings looked at one another intently as they gray haired one tried to figure out what the other was going to say. Isane thinking that her sibling felt betrayed decided to do what she thought was right. She bowed her head and apologized. "I'm sorry Kiyone, for not telling you sooner."

There was a long pause as Isane waited for a response. "No," her sibling said which was a surprise. "You shouldn't be apologizing. In fact, I should be applauding you. It really is admirable to see you finally standing up for something you believe."

As the two continued to talk Orihime rushed over to Ganju's side began to heal him. Curious as to what the girl was doing he approached her. "So, you can put up a barrier and heal people? What a fascinating ability Miss…"

"Just call me Orihime," she said with a weary smile before bringing her focus back onto healing the injured Shiba. There was an awkward pause between the two. "You want to know why we are helping you, don't you?"

"Y… Yes."

"Of course I'll help you. We don't know who is responsible for Aizen's death and it is very likely that you outsiders know something about it. We can't kill you without investigating you first," he stated. "And above all else, though your methods were unorthodox, you tried to rescue my subordinate. I can't let you die now."

Her forced smile turned genuine. "Thank you."

"Now about that Hollow. Why is he trying to save Rukia?"

* * *

 **Somewhere else:**

"Yoruichi," said a pissed of Ichigo in an unsettlingly quiet tone. "Why did you take me back? And why only me?"

"I could only carry one person if I had a chance of outrunning Byakuya," Yoruichi explained herself, trying not to anger the teen further. It wasn't successful.

Ichigo's fists clenched as he threw a punch against one of the surrounding rocks, creating a crater in his blinding rage. "I had the highest chance of surviving a fight against Byakuya and instead you take me over one of my injured friends! For all we both know, they could be dead right now!" He walked up the ex-captain and grabbed her by the collar. "I was able to beat Kenpachi, why is Byakuya any different?!"

"Don't think so highly of yourself. No one there had a chance of surviving a fight against Byakuya." The next thing Ichigo knew, he was flipped upside down and falling flat on his back. "Why didn't you take Rukia instead of me?"

Yoruichi looked down at the masked teen with an unreadable expression. She then turned around and began giving herself some distance. "It's true that back there, no one could have defeated Byakuya. But in three days' time, it may become possible for you. That is why I brought you back." Ichigo was still confused as to what the woman was talking about, but decided that it was best for him to remain quiet while she explained.

"Besides, Ukitake was there. He's Rukia's superior and a very decent man. Even though your friends are both intruders and traitors, he won't let them die because they were trying to save Rukia. There's no need to worry about them, just focus on getting stronger. Right now, you would be fighting an uphill battle against Byakuya. You are capable of beating him, but it would have been very unlikely. But in three days, I'll make you stronger than him, solidifying your victory against him. Then, you can go and rescue everyone."

A flare of determination lit up in Ichigo's eyes as he stared back at the woman. "If your intention is to help me help others, I will be willing to listen to you. Sorry for questioning you."

"It's no worries," Yoruichi said waving her hands at the apology. "I can understand your frustration with your willingness to help your friends. It's a good trait to have, but without the proper strength, it will only get you so far." She then looked over to Ichigo's zanpakuto. "Let me ask you something. Have you ever noticed that Zangetsu is always in its released form?"

Ichigo looked at the obsidian blade in his hand with a curious expression. "Huh?" he said, noticing that bit of information. "So, that's why he wouldn't change shapes when I called his name? I've been noticing that, but I never really thought about it."

"So, you didn't know then. I guess that means Kisuke didn't inform you that there is another level of release that Zangetsu is capable of."

"Nani?" he said satirically.

"It's not just Zangetsu. All zanpakuto's have two levels of releases. The first one is called Shikai, the second called Bankai. One must be capable of doing both in order to become a captain. In other words, every captain can unleash Bankai, with one exception."

"Kenpachi?" Ichigo asked rhetorically.

"Correct," she confirmed. "In the long history of Soul Society, he's the only one who has reached the level of Captain without even knowing his zanpakuto's name. His raw strength is not something to be taken lightly, even by the Gotei thirteen. You should know this since you fought him head on."

"I can confirm that."

"Anyways, the power and forms of the Shikai and Bankai are all dependent on the zanpakuto. They also vary according to the wielder's strength and training. But in general, one's power can grow five to ten times greater." Ichigo's eyes widened. He realized that Yoruichi's decision on taking him back was probably for the best. If he had fought Byakuya times ten, he most certainly would have needed more than a power boost from Zangetsu to beat him. "I see you now realize the gap between powers," Yoruichi said, seeing the gears turn in Ichigo's head. "It's scary to think, isn't it? However, in order to reach this level, even the strongest of Soul Reapers need at least ten years to train."

"Wait. But I don't have-"

"I know. It takes ten or more years to train if you do it the conventional way. For you however, I am going to use a different method for you to learn Bankai in three days, but it will be very risky and dangerous. You think you're up for the challenge?"

Ichigo was quiet for a moment before reaching for mask over his face and pushing it up to show his face to his new instructor. Upon revealing his face, he had a half smirk across his face as he looked at Yoruichi dead in the eye. "I don't have anything better to do, so why not?"

Yoruichi smiled at the teen's determination as she too began to prepare herself. But before anything proceeded any further, Ichigo had one question to ask. "Did… Did you do anything to me while I was asleep?" He said hesitantly. There was an awkward pause between the two as they stared at one another with blank expressions.

Yoruichi turned and bit the nail of her thumb. "Damnit," she said through her teeth, realizing she had missed the perfect opportunity.

"Oh thank God," Ichigo said in a sigh of relief.

* * *

 **Hueco Mundo:**

Hueco Mundo, a cruel and unforgiving place. A place where horrible monsters known as Hollows roamed freely in search of something that could tame their endless hunger, even if it meant each other. They felt no empathy, no sorrow, and worst of all, no remorse. In this land, they were free to do as they pleased. A land of no limitations, no regards, and no Soul Reapers. Here, they were the ones to fear.

The terrain itself was a barren wasteland with dunes of sand spread as far as the eye can see. Despite the chaos that happens day to day in home of the Hollows, the place always seemed to have a calm environment. To an outsider, the world would look too barren to support any form of life.

However, deep in the sands of Hueco Mundo rested a small pond with a tree planted right beside it. The tree looked to be long dried up and dead with its bark matching the paleness of the sand that it once grew in. The water was completely still, creating a perfect reflection of the dark sky above. The water almost looked solid, like a sheet of glass trying to cover a dark hole.

The dried-up tree suddenly began to dissolve as its branches fell to the ground. Gradually, all the branches dissipated as the trunk of the tree began to implode like a hollowed out sand sculpture. Within no time, the tree had completely vanished from sight, becoming the sand it rested in. Above the surface, nothing seemed to occur other than a small ripple formed in the center of the pond. However, the event that happened underneath told a different story.

Below the water was a blue flame that burned brightly underneath a single white cloth, about the size of a ribbon. Where it led to was hidden away in the darkness of the abyss, but not for long. The blue light flickered as it grew to the point where it barely reached the white ribbon. The article then caught fire as the flame began to follow the ribbon's path into the darkness like a wick to a firecracker. As it lit up the black, more and more white ribbons began to emerge gradually becoming more condensed.

As more began to reveal themselves, a form of hieroglyphics began appearing on the ribbon that was on fire. The flame followed this path until it reached a large cocoon. The moment the flame came into contact with it, they extinguished leaving the place darker than it was before. A crack suddenly formed on the front of the encasement with blue light leaking from it. A few seconds later, another crack, but this time, blue embers crackled out from its appearance. One after the other, more cracks emerged as the cocoon began to glow a vibrate blue.

The shell suddenly blew up, shattering the encasement into hundreds of small pieces, but the thing inside was still hidden from sight. A blue electricity suddenly began to spark around the thing light fireworks revealing its black scales and yellow jagged spikes running down to the end of its tail. Suddenly, the energy stopped leaving the environment pitch black again. The creature's eyes cracked open revealing solid yellow that illuminated like candles. The yellow bonelike sails that traveled down the creature's back to its three-pronged tail glowed as well, only this time they glowed a brilliant blue.

The thing then uncoiled itself and swam up to the surface. What first emerged from the water was a large black scaled hand topped with yellow, razor sharp claws about five inches in length each. Next, the body of the creature. Its face was flat and reptilelike as its teeth stuck out like a crocodile's and the mouth curved into the smile that most reptilians possess. The creature had the body shape of a human as it stood on its two legs and hunched its back.

It bellowed a mighty roar that echoed through the sands of Hueco Mundo. The sound was similar to that of a screeching tire that skidded too much on a turn, but had the deep sound of a hundred cellos playing one continuous low note. The sound echoed through the empty sands of the home of the Hollows.

* * *

 **Soul Palace:**

In the room of the Soul King, a curious presence washed over him, sending chills down every part of his being. He opened his eyes to reveal a look of acceptance and sadness. It had been millennia since he had last felt it, but the feeling was still fresh in his memory. _He_ had been awakened. A creature of godlike proportions whose powers could destroy all of which he had taken so long to build.

At this point, all the Soul King could do was hope that the memory seal he had placed all those eons ago was still in function. If _He_ knew the locations of where he sealed the rest of them were, then there would be no chance in stopping them from exacting their revenge on him. In the back of his mind, he knew it was only a matter of time before that creature would break free.

"I'll be waiting, old friend."

* * *

 **Hueco Mundo:**

The formidable creature that had awoken from his eternal slumber was now lying flat on his stomach with an annoyed look upon his face. The feeling of numbness was spread throughout his entire body from all those years of being sealed away in a cocoon. He was awake, but his body wasn't, so all he could do was lay and wait for his muscles to recover. He let out a low growl of displeasure as his chin rested in the sand.

* * *

 **Phew, that took a long time to make. Sorry for making this update take so long. I hope you all like this chapter and think that it was (as Tanithlipsky would put it) very good. I haven't found a lot of time to type up this story and I spent a lot of time editing it. If you're confused by what the creature is supposed to look like, I wanted to give him a sort of Project Nemesis look to it, so look up that name through images and use that as a reference, minus the glowy things on its chest. Speaking of Kaiju's, I'm going to be starting Godzilla fanfic pretty soon, so check my profile every now and again to see when it comes out. One last thing, I know its a bit late, but I just want to say thank you to all of you following my story. I honestly, didn't think that we would pass one hundred followers so soon. Maybe, at some point we will have one hundred people who favorited my story too. Big thanks to you guys, girls, and everything in between.**

 **Anyways, as always, I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll see you next time.**


	9. Creative Chapter Name

**Creative Chapter Name:**

* * *

There was a loud crack that echoed through the rocky training ground that was followed by a loud shout of pain by a certain orange haired teenager. "SON OF A BITCH!"

Ichigo was now kneeling on the ground with blood running down the side of his face as he breathed heavily. He placed his hand on the blood too see how much would come off on his hand before turning his attention back to his pale doppelganger. Zangetsu had his usual spine chilling plastered on his face as he stared down at Ichigo. "Come on King, you're better than this."

"Piss off!" Ichigo yelled as he stood back up on his feet and grabbed a nearby Zanpakuto. He then let out a mighty roar as he charged full speed towards Zangetsu. "Haahhhh!" The blades clashed creating sparks to fly off the clanging metal. However, the sword that Ichigo held was beginning to crack. "Shit."

Upon seeing this, Ichigo pushed Zangetsu a little bit back and jumped away before any further damage to the sword could be dealt. "I didn't realize you were this much of a coward King. I'm kind of disappointed that I have such pathetic excuse for a wielder."

"It's called a tactical retreat and you know it!" Ichigo snapped causing his pure white twin to shake his head in dissatisfaction before looking up to the dark skinned woman watch over the two.

"This may take a while," he said causing her to frown ever so slightly. Zangetsu then looked back at Ichigo who had grabbed another sword, and stood readily in an attack position. "Are you done running?"

"Fuck you," Ichigo spat.

His zanpakuto spirit just smiled. "Now that's more like it." Zangetsu then charged straight towards the teen at a blinding speed causing both their swords to clash once again. As the two continued their duel, Ichigo couldn't help but wonder how he got himself into this situation in the first place.

* * *

 **Flashback:**

Ichigo couldn't help but stand and stare in confusion at the large, white, human shaped object standing right beside the werecat. "Wh-What is it?" he asked.

"This is a Tenshintai," she explained. "It's a rare artifact of the Stealth Division. This thing can forcefully materialize the true form of the zanpakuto."

"Soooo, how does that help me get Bankai?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

Yoruichi glared at him for a second.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't interrupt me." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the statement but allowed the woman to continue her explanation. "As I was saying, you need communication and sectorization with your zanpakuto to achieve Shikai. For Bankai, you need the materialization and submission of the zanpakuto. Materialization refers to calling the zanpakuto into our world. Normally, several years of training are required for this, but… you fought on equal footing with Zaraki Kenpachi. It is likely that you've reached materialization or an equivalent level."

"Huh," Ichigo said as the gears in his head began to turn. "Thank you."

Yoruichi raised her eyebrow. "For what?"

"For complimenting me about my level of power. After trying to get Rukia, I just sort of felt that no one appreciates what I'm doing, you know, that no one is noticing all the hard work I'm putting in. I just wanted to thank you for that." He gave Yoruichi a bashful grin while lightly scratching his cheek with his index finger.

The former captain just stared at Ichigo in slight shock by the sudden display of reserved nature the teen was presenting. She couldn't help but giggle at the sudden shift in behavior. "Who knew he does have a childish side," she thought to herself.

"What's so funny?" Ichigo asked when he noticed the giggles coming from the shapeshifter.

"You, cutie-pie," she said giving him a charming wink.

The teen became red in the cheeks from the young woman's show of affection. He wasn't sure how to react so he just kind of stood there in a daze before averting his eyes in embarrassment causing Yoruichi to laugh at him again. "That's not funny," he pouted. "Just tell me how to summon Zangetsu."

"Fine, alright, I'll get to the point." As fun as it was to tease him, Yoruichi had to stop herself at some point. "Just stab Zangetsu into this and he will take into the materialized state. The time limit of materialization with this method is three days. In that time, you must, at all cost, defeat the materialized Zangetsu and force him into submission. If you cannot-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Ichigo stabbed Zangetsu into the Tenshintai. "I don't wanna hear what happens if I can't. If there's no other way, I just have to do it."

There was a sudden burst creating a ball of black energy to appear in a matter of seconds. Just as soon as it appeared, it then vanished along with Ichigo's zanpakuto, and the human sized doll. In its place stood a pale twin of Ichigo wearing a shihakusho that was as colorless as his skin. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in his black sclera as he showed his sinister half-smirk as he stared directly at Ichigo. "You rang?" he said in his distorted voice.

"Zangetsu."

The two stared at each other for a while with an intense atmosphere surrounding them before Yoruichi stepped in. "You heard our conversation, yes?"

Zangetsu turned to look at the Goddess of Flash with the smile on his face. "Of course," he said with an ominous laugh, "So are you two going to make out or what?"

Ichigo's face had turned red from the sudden suggestion his zanpakuto had blared out. "Fuck off," he shouted in retaliation. Yoruichi, completely unprepared for the comment, formed a small blush across her face as well, but quickly calmed herself down before the other two noticed.

"Zangetsu, please stay focused. We don't have much time."

"We have plenty of time," said Zangestu with a quirky smile. "Plenty of time to kick my user's ass."

"What did you say?!"

"Don't take it personal King, but you kinda suck without me." The zanpakuto manifestation said before slamming his hand against the ground. Suddenly, swords began to appear all around them throughout the entire training ground, each one looking similar to the Zangetsu's original form. As the group watched all the weapons pop up, one suddenly materialized right between Ichigo's legs, really close to the place that is most important to a man.

"Ah!" he shouted as he fell back upon noticing the weapon near underneath him. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Just to give you a good burst of adrenaline before you get your ass kicked for three days straight." Zangetsu looked to the sea of zanpakuto's in the distance. "Oh, and one more thing before I explain how things are gonna go." He turned his head to look back towards Ichigo. "You have to prove to me that you are strong enough to rely on your own without me."

Ichigo's mask suddenly began to crumble to pieces off his face and disappeared into dust. The yellow in his irises vanished as they reverted to their old brown color. A slight sense of panic surged through him as he placed his hands on his face, feeling the weird sensation of having the skin on his face be completely exposed. "That means I'm taking away your Hollow abilities, to ensure that it truly is just your power against mine. Once you prove to me that you can beat me without the aid of my powers, then I will give you Bankai." Ichigo, still trying to get over the fact that his Hollow mask was gone dumbly nodded his head.

"So, here's what's going to happen for the next few days. Of all of these swords, only one of them is the real me, and only that specific one can defeat me. If you want to beat me, you have to find it before I kill you. If you do find it, don't hesitate to kill me, a'right?"

Ichigo immediately grabbed hold of the zanpakuto that had appeared between legs and pointed it right at Zangetsu's throat. "I wonder what color you blood will look like."

Zangetsu gave a vicious grin. "That's the spirit." In that split second, the zanpakuto spirit grabbed a different replica and slashed the weapon held at his neck. He then kicked Ichigo square in the chest, sending him flying into a nearby boulder. "Great start King!"

"Fuck off!"

* * *

 **Present:**

A large explosion of dust suddenly blew up sending Ichigo flying several feet into the air before landing back down on the hard stone ground below. Fresh wounds started to leak blood as he tried to pick himself back up. As he struggled to get back onto his feet, began to cough. Upon doing so, he felt something drip down from his mouth and onto the dirt floor. Beneath his head was a small pool of blood that had come from his mouth.

"Ichigo! Quit having flashbacks and start beating your zanpakuto!" shouted Yoruichi. "Are you trying to waste time?"

"I'm literally puking out blood Yoruichi!" the teen shouted back. After that he saw his pale doppelganger jumping off the cliffside and coming straight at him. Ichigo immediately rolled to the side, avoiding the attack and quickly ran off to find his next sword. "Where is it? Where is it?" he said to himself as he ran through the field of replicas. Finally, he came across a sword that looked identical to the one he had been using. Long black handle but only had room for one hand with a blade shaped like a Khyber knife with the stub where the sharp part of the blade began and a stretched out octagonal hole that reached from the handle, halfway up the blade. "That's it!"

He grabbed it with full confidence as he spun around to face his opponent one last time. With one mighty swing, he slashed at Zangetsu with his full strength expecting the training to come to an end. Once the blade was a mere few inches away from Zangetsu's neck, the zanpakuto spirit quickly reacted and smashed the blade against the back of his hand, causing it to shatter just like all the previous replicas did before.

"Did you honestly think it was going to be that easy?"

Ichigo wasn't sure whether to respond or not, but being the honest person that he was he answered truthfully. "A bit yeah."

Zangetsu just sighed. "Fine, you know what, I'll make it easier for you to understand how to find the right one since this is just embarrassing."

"Seriously?"

"Sure," he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "I'll tell you this much. Each one of these swords is a piece of your heart and only one of them is strong enough to defeat me. The ones that break are a representation of your weakness rendering them useless against me."

Ichigo just stood there and looked at hundreds of swords stuck in the ground. "So each one of these swords represents a weakness of mine and only one is my strength?" Zangetsu nodded. "Man… talk about a blow to the pride."

"Hurts, doesn't it?" the zanpakuto spirit said before pointing his sword at Ichigo. "Now grab another weapon, I plan to make you stronger than Byakuya way before time runs out to give you an extra boost against him. After all, your win ratio against him and Soi Fon is zero to one."

"That's right," Ichigo said as he grabbed another weapon. "That's one too many."

Zangetsu smiled, "I was thinking the same thing."

* * *

 **Squad Four Barracks:**

Both Isane and Hanatarou stood before Unohana's desk with scared looks upon their faces. There was an indiscreet silence between the three of them and neither of the two "traitors" knew what was going to happen next, but at this point they were incredibly worried. Both of them knew, or had heard about just how scary their captain could be, but they were ready to embrace whatever punishment they would receive.

"Isane," Unohana began in a calm manner.

"Yes, Captain Unohana."

"What were you thinking when you decided to join the Ryoka?"

"I will not come up with any excuses for the actions that I have taken," the lieutenant said with a stern face.

"Hmm," hummed the captain as she interlocked her fingers and rested her arms on her desk. "Isane, according to Byakuya and Ukitake's report, along with many others, the Ryoka that you were with possessed a Hollow mask. Is this correct?"

Isane was hesitant to answer as her body stiffened in worry. "Y-Yes Captain, that is correct."

"Knowing full well that he was a Hollow, you still decided to join him. You've not only betrayed Soul Society, but your own kind as well. So let me ask again. What were you thinking when you decided to join the Ryoka?" She spoke this time with much more authority which startled the two.

There was a long pause as everyone silent with Isane shamefully staring at the ground with her bangs overshadowing her eyes. Hanatarou could see that Isane was digging herself deeper into a hole as she stood there with no response. "Captain Unohana, it's not her fault!" interjected the timid Soul Reaper. "I was the one who convinced her to stay. I was the one who led her into this situation. If it weren't for me, she wouldn't be in this mess. If anyone is to be punished, it's me."

Unohana raised an eyebrow before turning back to her lieutenant. "Is this true?" she asked calmly.

There was another long pause. "Isane, it's alright. This was all my fault," told Hanatarou. Isane was torn

"No," Isane finally said as she looked dead into her superior's eyes. "It's not his fault." Her voice had much more power than before which seemed to surprise everyone. "I made the decision on my own accords and I will go down with the consequences of my actions. The Ryoka you refer to is named Ichigo Kurosaki and he is not just a Hollow. He is kind and understanding, not some mindless beast that you refer to him as. As for why I joined him… I wanted to help him save Rukia."

The room fell silent once again. Everyone seemed to be stunded by the display of power the lieutenant had shown. Even Isane herself was a bit surprised. She felt like all of her fears had disappeared just from finally speaking her mind. Unohana grew a small grin. She was somewhat proud of Isane as she began to see her underling grow once more. "Is that so? Then let me ask you this, do you think he has a chance to save Miss Kuchiki?"

"I cannot say that I think he can beat any of the older captains, but…" A slight flare in her eyes began to burn with determination. "I can say is that he isn't afraid to face anyone who gets between him and his friends, no matter how much more powerful they are."

The captain hummed at what her lieutenant had said. "He sounds like quite the daring young man. But you still haven't answered my question. Do you think he will succeed?"

Without any hesitation, the gray haired lieutenant gave her answer. "Absolutely. I have no doubt in my mind that he will save Rukia."

Unohana just gave a warm smile as she removed her hands from under her chin and rested them on her desk. "My, my, he sounds like quite the catch. You've only met him yesterday and yet you have full confidence in him. You wouldn't happen to have any interest for him, would you?"

Isane's cheeks turned a light pink before waving her hands in front of her. "No, no, it's not like that! I mean, sure he's attractive, nice, well-mannered and all that, but it's not like I like him or anything like that. Plus I'm sure he already has someone else for him. Beside…" a small, frown appeared on her face, "why would anyone go for a person like me. I'm not that interesting nor am I really that attractive."

Unohana slightly frowned at her lieutenant's lack of self-confidence. "I see, well that's a shame. He sounded like quite the match for you." Unohana said. "Well I think it's time for you to go then. You will be held in a separate cell from the Ryoka." The two Soul Reaper's politely bowed their heads and began to head out through the doors. As the two left the captain of the fourth division was left to her own devices in her now empty room. "Ichigo Kurosaki," she said to herself, "you sound like a very fascinating person."

* * *

 **Outside the Room:**

As Isane left the room, she could help but think of the words that her captain had said to her. "Did she really mean it? That me and him could make a good couple?" Her faced slightly blushed at the thought as she shook her head. "No, stop thinking about that! He's a good friend, but I don't think he'd be interested in someone like me."

Her mind then suddenly wandered to when that dark skinned lady named Yoruichi first appeared at the white pillar. When she was nuzzling with the sleeping Ichigo she felt something bitter deep down inside. Isane wouldn't admit it, but deep down, she felt jealous. Her head fell down a little as she stared at the floor as she walked. She couldn't help but frown at the recollection as a knot formed in her stomach. Only one thing kept playing in her mind as she continued walking down the hall.

"Why do I feel this way?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

Ichigo was fairing much better than he had at the beginning of his quest for Bankai. Now his swords were lasting a few more hits compared to an hour ago. However, despite the improvement, he still was struggling a lot against his zanpakuto spirit.

The two charged at one another once again to collide their swords together. The force of the impact caused the sand around them to spread from their feet as the two stared each other down.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" they both shouted simultaneously as a red and black energy encased their blades. A large explosion formed in the shape of a dome with a solid red line going jaggedly down the middle that destroyed everything within a fifteen foot radius. When it disappeared, Ichigo came flying out of the dust picked up from the explosion and slammed into another rock.

"Why are there so many boulders in the place?" Ichigo complained to himself.

Zangetsu swung his sword diagonally to clear the dust to reveal himself still standing without a scratch on his body. As Ichigo picked himself back up, Zangetsu noticed that the sword was still intact. "Hmm, he's getting closer," he thought. "Hey Ichigo! I see your sword is still intact." The teen looked down at his weapon and much to his surprise, it was still in one piece. "That means you're getting stronger. That also means…" a large gathering of spirit pressure formed around the zanpakuto spirit as a wicked grin spread across his face. "I no longer have to hold back."

In a flash, Zangetsu disappeared from sight. In the next split second, he appeared once again in front of Ichigo's face with his sword held at his right side. With immense force, Zangetsu swung the sword, targeting the orange hair's waist.

Quickly noticing this, Ichigo reacted as quickly as he could and barely blocked the attack. The force of the impact, however, caused a crack to form in Ichigo's sword. "Oh that can't be good." As he said that Zangetsu swiped his foot into Ichigo's legs, causing him to lose balance. As he fell, Zangetsu took the opportunity to punch his wielder, sending him tumbling across the ground. "Ow."

Ichigo picked himself back up and rubbed the back of his head in pain. "You sure do make a great punching bag, Ichigo. No matter how many time you get thrown to the ground, you just get right back up to keep going."

"Thanks for the backhanded compliment Zangetsu," Ichigo said sarcastically as he wiped off some of the blood on his face. "Ah man, this sucks."

"At least for you." Zangetsu suddenly appeared next to Ichigo and slashed at the teen. Not holding any form of a weapon, Ichigo tried to move out of the way as quick as he could. But his reactions were too slow. He was a sitting duck. Right before the blade could hit him, Zangetsu suddenly reverted back into the white doll that Ichigo used to manifest him.

"Eh?" Ichigo was completely confused as he stared at the antique. He then noticed Yoruichi approaching him with a content smile on her face.

"Lay your sword down, Ichigo. The first day is over," she said.

"What?!" Ichigo shouted. "But it's only been an hour and a half!"

Yoruichi just stared at him like he had grown two heads. "It's been several hours."

Ichigo's face suddenly turned expressionless as his bangs overshadowed his eyes. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm really not."

Ichigo's fists suddenly clenched. "I'VE BARELY MADE ANY PROGRESS!" he suddenly shouted while he squeezed his head between his hands as he threw himself into a panic. "What am I going to do? At this rate, I'll never achieve Bankai! I can't even keep up with my Zanpakuto spirit anymore! Oh this isn't good. I'm so screwed!"

"Ichigo!" commanded the dark skinned woman causing the teen to quiet down. "It may not seem like much, but you've made a lot of progress. Your swords are lasting over seven minutes at a time and your Zanpakuto no long has a need to hold back. You've done much better than what I expected you to do in the first day." She smiled once again. "Why don't you relax for a little bit. If you're tense all the time, you're gonna have a hard time improving. There's a hot spring over there," she pointed. "Why don't you relax in it for the time being."

Ichigo just let out a low growl before complying. "Fine."

"Good boy."

* * *

 **Sometime Later:**

Ichigo splashed into to steaming water of the hot spring that Yoruichi was talking about and let out a big sigh of relief. "Ah, this is nice." He dunked his whole body in so that it would get soaked in the mineral water that he rested in. Upon emerging, he noticed that his wounds were beginning to heal, and at a much faster rate than what his Hollow powers did. "Oh hey, that's pretty neat! I wonder what happens if I drink the water?"

"Ichigo," the ex-captain called out, "how does the water feel?"

"If feels amazing!"

"Yeah? That's good." Out of Ichigo's field of vision, Yoruichi began to undo her outfit. "Then I guess I'll join you."

Ichigo turned around with a dumb expression on his face. "Come again?" He then saw that Yoruichi was being serious as she took off her orange shirt. It was then when Ichigo began to panic. "What are you doing!"

"Aw, what's wrong?" asked the shapeshifter as she undid her pants.

"Everything! Everything in this situation!"

"You react always as expected," she said teasingly, "You're so naïve."

"Shut up! I'm just not cut out for this! Wait what are you doing? D-Don't come in!" Ichigo immediately covered his eyes and turned away as blood rushed to his head so that he wouldn't faint when seeing the woman next to him naked. But when Yoruichi entered the hot spring, it didn't sound like a human entering the water. It made far too light of a sound. He turned and peeked through between one of his fingers to see a black cat swimming towards him.

"There. There's no problem now, is there?" the cat said. The teen looked at the cat in slight shock. "What's the matter, disappointed?"

"Please don't ever do that again," the teen begged.

The cat just smirked and thought to herself, "Only once you stop doing such adorable reactions every time I do it."

"What's with that look on our face? What are you thinking?" Ichigo said worryingly.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking to myself." Ichigo could only squint his eyes in suspicion as he stared the black feline.

"Hmm," he turned his head away and stared into the large desolate room filled with swords. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Okay first off, why does this place look so much Kisuke's training grounds back at his shop?"

"I was expecting you to notice this," the feline said as she looked over to the training ground. "That place was modeled off of this one. When Kisuke and I were very young, we built this place as a secret playground."

"Secret huh?" Ichigo thought about it for a second. "How could such a huge place be considered secret?"

"When we were kids, we used to come here every day to play. After we both joined the Gotei thirteen, we began to use this place as a training ground to hone our skills."

"Hmm, well that does answer my second question. He was a Soul Reaper after all. Heh, that would explain how he knew so much about soul society as well as why he had a zanpakuto." He turned to face the feline. "Hey, Yoruichi, could you tell me – Aah!" He suddenly freaked out, almost passing out, upon seeing Yoruichi sitting on the edge of the springs, completely naked.

Yoruichi just let out a laugh from the teens reaction. "Oh Ichigo, your reaction is always so priceless." She waited for a little bit for a response form the boy. Instead of jumping out of the water with fiery anger, Ichigo's head slowly rose from the water, facing away from Yoruichi. "Ichigo?" she questioned as this wasn't the response she thought she would receive.

"Could you please at least _try_ to cover yourself up," he said, a little bit annoyed.

Yoruichi just let out a small giggle. "Okay," she said. Suddenly Ichigo felt arms wrap around his chest and a soft feeling press against his back. He turned his head to see Yoruichi directly behind giving him a teasing smile. "But a little bit later."

The gears in his head began to turn as he soon realized what the soft feeling on his back was. Blood began to rush to his head from embarrassment and the hot temperature of the bath. He suddenly began to feel light headed from all the heat going into his head. "Not again," he thought to himself before blacking out completely.

Despite knowing that Ichigo had fainted, she just continued on hugging him. She stayed like that for a while just giving Ichigo's body a loving hug as if she were a little girl holding her favorite teddy bear. Finally, after a few minutes she thought to herself, "Maybe I should let him cool down." She then dragged the unconscious teen out of the hot spring and laid him on dry land with his head on her lap to let him cool off. "His face is so cute when he's asleep." The shapeshifter couldn't help but smile as she played with his orange hair.

A serious look fell upon her face as she looked at the sleeping teen. "You've improved at an astounding rate Ichigo, much fast than any ordinary Soul Reaper could ever dream of." She stopped twirling his hair. "But that only applies to your ability to fight. Your Reishi hasn't risen as high. Can he really achieve Bankai in only two days going like this?" Doubt started to fill her mind as she thought deeper into the situation.

"Maybe I should extend the deadline. According to the info I gathered, Rukia's execution was cut short to 25 days. So after Ichigo's three days of training, the execution would have been the following day. We had no time to spare. But for better or for worse, we were chased by the Cleaner in the Senkaimon and tore through the Dangai giving us more time. In other words, we still have eight more days of after training. That makes it possible to extend the training time. But what should I do?"

A sinking feeling began to form in the pit of Yoruichi's stomach. "Kisuke developed this training method based on himself. He's the only one who was able to succeed with it. However, though he did manage to achieve Bankai within the three days, a longer period of time could be disastrous."

She then suddenly remembered the words that Kisuke told her before leaving the World of the Living. He said, "Don't worry! He has much more talent than I ever did!" She felt torn on the situation. Yoruichi wanted to have faith in Ichigo and in Kisuke's words, but being the realist that she was, she also had to consider the worst case scenario.

Ichigo then suddenly let out a small noise before turning his head ever so slightly into a more comfortable position. A small smile grew across the woman's face as she began to pet his head. "I'll wait until one more day to see how things go."

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

"Huh? What? What is this place?" Ichigo panicked as he found himself suspended in midair in a realm that only possessed was nothingness. All there was was black as far as the eye could see without a single sliver of anything. Ichigo looked down at himself to check if the same applied to him as well. "Hmm. Nope, I can still see myself."

He looked up to see if there was anything there. Upon doing so, a small, white circle appeared up above. It shined ever so slightly, like the moon in a night sky without stars. "This place is kind of freaking me out."

" _You can't beat him,"_ said a voice that echoed through the pitch black. It was a low groggy voice that sound like it came from a middle aged man. From the way he was talking, it sounded like he was a bit upset about something.

"Who's there?" Ichigo looked around, but still, there nothing to be seen. "Where are you and what do you mean I can't beat him? Can't beat who?"

" _My location is not of importance,"_ The voice responded. _"However, I'm saying that you will never beat Zangetsu."_

A tick mark suddenly appeared on Ichigo's head. "What do you mean I can't beat Zangetsu? You looking for a challenge? If that's the case, I will gladly accept it!"

" _Your headstrong nature is admirable, but will be the lead to your ultimate downfall."_

"What do you mean?"

" _You are reckless, careless. You never fully analyze the situation before charging into it. You go in with no preparation expecting for the outcome to be in your favor."_

"So? It seems to be working," shrugged the teen. "If I'm not prepare, most likely they won't be prepared."

Ichigo could almost feel the judging stare as he said those words. _"But what if your opponent is prepared for you? What do you do then?"_

"Improvise."

" _And that is when your weaknesses begin to show. You don't think. You rely too heavily on your instincts that you never fully utilize your own abilities. Without preparation, you're just jumping in blind, hoping for the best possible outcome. Unless you start to think things through you will never beat Zangetsu. If you are walking down the street and you come across a brick wall that spans for two miles every direction, what would you do?"_

"Walk around it," Ichigo said blatantly.

" _Correct. Now say you come across the same situation, but this time, you brought along a sledge hammer. Then what would you do?"_

"Break through it."

" _Exactly. Preparation is the key to success. Trusting your own abilities is one thing, but using them effectively is another."_

Ichigo nodded in agreement. "I see. It was kind of like the last time I faced Byakuya. I knew he was going to use that flash step thing on me and because I knew, I was able to block it."

" _That is correct."_

"But how is that going to help me against Zangetsu? His skills and strength are way higher than mine. He's just a better version of me."

" _But with analyzing his abilities and knowing your own, you'll be able to find a way around it. You can never truly go straight forward in life. There will always be something blocking your path. What makes the difference is knowing what to do when you face it. If he truly is a better version of you, then he will have similar weaknesses."_

Ichigo thought about this for a moment. He was beginning to put together the pieces and planning out his next steps when achieving Bankai. "Hmm, that makes sense." He then looked up at the moon and gave a smile. "Thanks for the advice… Um, excuse me, but what's your name?"

" _It is not necessary to tell you. It is simply not the right time."_

Ichigo just smiled, "Okay, but it'd just be nice to know your name the next time I see you."

" _What makes you think you'll see me again?"_ the voice asked curiously.

"Because I know this isn't a dream. This place gives off a very similar feeling as the other one with all those skyscrapers. Plus, I know I'm not smart enough to have a dream to give myself that kind of advice." Ichigo lightly laughed.

His comment was met with silence. _"Daybreak is coming,"_ the voice finally said. _"You need to wake up."_

Cracks of white began to appear all around from his feet. Each crack grew longer and longer as they stretched up towards the moon. He watched this unfold for several seconds until each crack, finally reached the white circle in the sky. Everything then completely shattered. At that moment, Ichigo woke up.

"Well fine then. Jackass."

Looking around he found himself in the same location where he had woken up the first time around. "What am I doing here?" he thought to himself as he tried to recollect his missing memories. "Let's see I had just finished training and I was in the bath when…" A small blush crept across his cheeks as everything began to clear up. "Oh… Right…" he said before he felt something rise in his pants.

"No, we are not doing that!" he shouted at his crotch making it go back down. We gotta keep that T rating am I right.

"Good morning, Ichigo," said Yoruichi who had just entered into the room. She walked over to the teen holding a tray of two cups of warm tea. "Did you get enough sleep?" she asked as she handed one to Ichigo.

He graciously accepted the warm cup. "I guess you can say that," he said before drinking from it.

The dark skinned woman gave a teasing smile before saying, "Did you dream about me?"

Tea spat out of Ichigo's mouth like a geyser before coughing out the remaining in his lungs.

"What!?" he finally said. "No!"

Yoruichi made a fake sad face. "Aw, you don't care about me?"

"What? No! Why would you…?" As he was about to retort, Yoruichi gave puppy-dog eyes that pretty much silenced any kind of reply other than silence itself. "Huh, can we just get started already," he sighed.

"Sure, follow me."

* * *

 **Somewhere Else:**

A gray haired woman sat solemnly in a cold dark cell. Though she had Hanatarou for accompany her, she did feel the mood to chat. They both sat in silence not particularly waiting for anything eventful to happen.

Out in the distance, they heard footsteps approaching their cell. From the sound of it, they sounded like they belonged to a rather large person, but neither of them paid attention to them. They were expecting it to just pass by their cell like all the others.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until finally they stopped. "Odd," the lieutenant thought. "It sounds like they stopped right in front of ours." She looked over to the cell door to see a rather large figure standing before her. From the silhouette alone, she knew immediately recognized who it was.

"You two are coming with me," the figure spoke in a low, menacing tone.

* * *

 **Back with Our Protagonist:**

"That's quite the drop," he pointed out as they stood at the edge of a hole. He then noticed Yoruichi walk up to the edge. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Going down." Immediately, she jumped into the hole and disappeared from sight, which gave Ichigo a minor heart attack.

He rushed over to the edge to check if Yoruichi had landed in one piece. Upon looking, he noticed a small spec on the ground below waving at him. "What are you waiting for? Get your ass down here!" Yoruichi called.

Ichigo began weighing his options between spending probably an hour to climb down the ladder and waste valuable time, or just falling which will either lead to him falling to his death, but saving a lot of time. He really had to think about this for a while before deciding, "You know what, let's give this a go."

"Well… here goes nothing." He then jumped through the hole and fell at an incredible speed. As he fell, he began applying reiatsu into the bottom of his feet as he continued is descent. His fall began to slow down a little bit, but he was still falling at a speed he wasn't really comfortable with. "Come on, come on, come on, come on," he yelled as he applied more and more reiatsu into his feet.

He could feel himself slowing down, but not quick enough to guarantee a safe landing for himself. Panic ensued as he pushed more and more into his feet. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shitohshitohshitOHSHIT!"

Closing his eyes, he braced himself for impact. He waited for the pain of shattered bones to fill every nerve in his body, but it never did. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Yoruichi who had a smug grin plastered on her face. Looking down at himself, he soon realized why she was giving him that look. Yoruichi was holding him bridal style with her arms wrapped underneath his legs and back.

A small blush of embarrassment covered his face as he freed himself from the position he was in. Once he did that, he looked stared Yoruichi dead in the eye with a 'no bullshit' look on his face.

"Do not mention any of this… to anyone."

"Aw, Ichigo doesn't want his little ego to get hurt?"

"You know that's not why. If Kisuke gets any hold of that information, you know I won't hear the end of it."

The Goddess of Flash just gave a small chuckle as she placed her hand at her hip. "Okay, I'll keep my mouth shut. What happens in here stays in here." She then vanished from sight. Confused, Ichigo looked around to see where she had disappeared to only to receive a pat on the shoulder. "Let's get started, shall we?"

"R-Right," he replied, obviously confused about what just happened.

They repeated the same process as before as Yoruichi, once again, brought back out the human sized white doll, Ichigo stabbed his zanpakuto through it and Zangetsu once again appeared. But something was different about him. He looked upset about something. The evil grin he was so well known for had disappeared and replaced with a slight frown. The atmosphere around him was unsettling, even without the exuding reiatsu he displayed.

Zangetsu turned around to glare at Yoruichi with his piercing yellow eyes. Sticking out his hand, as sword came sailing towards him. In a quick motion, he grabbed the handle of weapon and disappeared.

Suddenly, she felt the cold feeling of metal being pressed lightly against her neck. She turned her head slightly to see the zanpakuto spirit holding the blade he had caught right beside her. The two stood in terror. Yoruichi gasped, taking one sharp intake of air, then forgot how to breath out. She could feel the piercing gaze from the zanpakuto spirit that stood behind her.

"Don't ever intervene when I am fighting," Zangetsu said with a low growl. "We are finished when we say we are finished. Understand?" Yoruichi slowly nodded her head, giving conformation that she understood the Spirit's demand.

"Good," he said returning almost immediately back to his original self as he removed the blade from her neck. "Glad you understand." Yoruichi finally let out her breath of air. He then turned his attention to Ichigo who was looking at Zangetsu with a look of unease. "Well are we gonna do this or what?" Deciding it best not to get on his bad side, he vigorously nodded his head before lifting up a random sword that was stuck in the ground nearby and holding it at the ready.

They stared each other down for a moment with a fiery intensity as brown eyes met yellow. In a flash, they charged at one another and clashed their large swords against one another. "Impressive," Zangetsu smirked, "Your attacks have a lot more force than yesterday."

Staying focused at the task at hand, Ichigo didn't make any form of a response. Zangetsu pushed Ichigo back, but this time Ichigo's balance didn't falter as he managed to stay standing on his feet. Sparing no extra moment, he charged Zangetsu with a battle cry and swung his sword down with tremendous force that when the Spirit blocked it, a large gust of wind blew throughout the entire training ground.

Zangetsu gave a cocky smirk as he stared at their clashed weapons. "That was quite the strike. Shame it was too slow." Looking back at his wielder, he saw Ichigo lift himself off the ground. He then spun around in midair and kicked the zanpakuto spirit across the face. The attack made a large crack in the air as Zangetsu's head rotated ninety degrees, leaving him stunned for a bit. Taking the opening, Ichigo balled his fingers into a fist and punched the pale doubleganger straight in the stomach, sending him flying into a nearby rock.

Ichigo stood triumphantly as a bit of smoke sizzled off his fist. "I know that didn't do much, but damn did it feel good."

Zangetsu pushed himself out of the rubble with a look of astonishment. He placed his hand on his stomach where he had been hit and noticed a faint scorch mark on his white shihakusho. "He managed to create one without my power?" he thought to himself, "That doesn't even make sense."

He looked back at Ichigo only to see him right in front for his face with his fist reeled behind him. Zangetsu raised his zanpakuto to block the attack, before notice something reflecting light on the other side of Ichigo. Recognizing that the fist was a diversion, he moved his sword preparing to block the strike and moved his hand stop the oncoming punch.

Once the weapons made contact, he noticed something. There was almost no force behind Ichigo's swing. He then suddenly felt impact of the fist in his hand. It was then when Zangetsu realized that the diversion was actually the diversion and the punch pushed passed his defense and made slammed into the Spirit's face sending him straight back into the rock, this time shattering it completely.

Zangetsu was send tumbling across the training ground before finally finding his footing again. Black blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as he looked back at Ichigo with a low growl. He charged straight at him like a blur before taking a strike at Ichigo's neck. Reacting to it just in time, he blocked the strike only ten centimeters away from its target.

They stood at a stalemate for a moment as they stared each other down with intense glares. Seeing as no progress was being made, Zangetsu hopped backwards to give himself some distance. "I must say, I'm quite impressed. You've not only outsmarted me, but you've also made me bleed," he said as he wiped away the black liquid from his mouth. "I can finally see those gears in your head turning. You're finally learning how to adapt."

Ichigo remained silent, it was clear he was in another realm from the blaze of focus in his eyes. "Heh, you might actually get somewhere today." Zangetsu felt once more where he had been punched. There was a small singe on his pale skin which left a slight burning sensation on his face. "What I want to know is how you managed to use Bala without my powers," he thought to himself.

Yoruichi stared in amazement when watching the two fight each other. Granted, she had seen better combat technique wise, but this was different. This was a matchup between two sluggers fighting as though it were the life or death of them, which it pretty much was. However, something seemed to bother the former captain.

"Ichigo has improved drastically since the yesterday. But…" Her mind wandered back to when Zangetsu had threatened her about intervening his and Ichigo's fight. Zangetsu had moved at a speed that she could barely follow. "Will he really be able to beat this monster?" Yoruichi could only stand and stare as things unfold.

"There is no fucking way I can beat this guy!" Ichigo internally screamed. "Sure, I can keep punching him all day, but that doesn't mean that I'll be able to beat him." He took a deep breath to calm himself as brown eyes stared at yellow. "Okay Ichigo, what did that voice tell you. Strategize. Find all the weak points he has and utilize them."

Zangetsu made the first move, disappearing then reappearing right in front of the orange haired teen, putting Ichigo on the back foot once again. He barely blocked the attack, but struggled to maintain his footing from the sheer weight behind the attack. "What's the matter King? You were doing so well a while ago. What happened?" Ichigo didn't responded as he concentrated all his strength into pushing Zangetsu out of their stalemate. Realizing that there was no way in hell he could overpower this monster, he did the next best thing. Used his strength against him.

He suddenly loosened the muscles in his arms causing them to drop slightly. Zangetsu, a bit surprised by the sudden flaccidness in Ichigo's defenses as his whole upper body fell forward a bit. Ichigo then parried the blade away from his body and took a slash across the Spirit's chest.

The blade was a mere centimeter away from making contact before a pale hand came in and swiftly caught the blade. Seeing who the hand belonged to, Ichigo began to sweat nervously before he looked up to see his pale twin. There was a cold look in his eyes, devoid of emotion, almost like he was in a trance. Despite cold, empty feeling, his eyes still had a glow to them, in fact, more so now than they had before.

"Oh this can't be good," Ichigo thought to himself.

Right as he said that, Zangetsu tightened his grip on the metal weapon shattering it into dozens of pieces leaving nothing for Ichigo except the hilt. Almost instantaneously, that same hand grabbed hold of Ichigo's collar and pulled him down. Zangetsu raised his blade up to his shoulder level and pointed directly at the teen, ready to impale him.

"No, not yet. I still need to save Rukia. I can't die yet!" All these thoughts running rampant in his head as he felt he was staring death in the face. Ichigo grit his teeth before shouting, "I CAN'T DIE YET!"

Just then, a sudden explosion occurred from the entrance of the training ground. This thankfully brought Zangetsu out of his trance as the normal gleam in his eyes returned. "There really is a God!" Ichigo rejoiced internally.

"I was wondering what you guys were doing all the way down here. Is that the true form of your zanpakuto?" said an oh so recognizable voice. A figure emerged from the dust and landed on the ground right below. "So, you're here training for Bankai, huh? Sounds interesting. In that case," The figure revealed himself to be none other than the red headed pineapple, Abarai Renji. "Count me in."

The two of the three stared at the intruder with uneasy expression, which was entirely understandable in the face of things. Ichigo on the other hand, had the blankest of expressions plastered on his face. "What's with that look?" asked Renji.

"Renji? How long have you been looking for us?"

"A few hours. Why?"

"Yoruichi, we may need to leave."

The shapeshifter gave a confused look. "Why?"

"Because if Renji was able to find us then that mean the rest of the Seireitei won't be far behind."

Yoruichi nodded her head, "You're right. We should leave in ten."

"I wouldn't worry about that anymore," interrupted Renji.

"Why is that?"

A slight scowl grew on the lieutenant's face before explaining. "The central forty-six has ordered a withdraw of all Soul Reapers out searching for you guys."

"Now why would they do that?"

Renji just shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure, but it might have something to do with this next piece of information. The time of Rukia's execution has changed. The new time is no the noon of tomorrow." Everyone was shocked. Not only did their time just get cut short, but now their chances of success had just decreased tenfold.

"Though it sucks to admit it, my powers now ain't quite enough to save Rukia. That's why I came." Zangetsu and Ichigo both gave glaring looks at Renji. "Don't worry," he grinned, "I'm not gonna get in the way of your training. I've already accomplished materialization. I only have a tiny bit until I can achieve Bankai."

As he lifted his zanpakuto, a swirl of gray dust spiraled around the blade until it was entirely incased in it. The miniature tornado then moved to the ground then blew away, revealing a large baboon with white fur and a snake for a tail. "We'll be doing our own thing over here."

Out of the three of them the one who seemed to panic the most was Yoruichi. "To-Tomorrow? That's," Yoruichi nervously sweated. "Bankai in that span of time is utterly-"

There was the sudden burst of reiatsu that pressed down like another layer of gravity on the group. "You want to finish that sentence, Yoruichi?" said a very pissed off Ichigo. "Aren't you the one who got me into this training? You don't have the right to give up."

"But Ichigo, if you don't achieve Bankai by tomorrow-"

"I already told you. I don't want to hear what happens if I can't. If the deadline is tomorrow," he slammed his fist into his palm as a deep blue aura surrounded his body. "That just means I'll take care of it today."

A sudden torrent of energy raged throughout the area as if it were a hurricane. The reiatsu around the teen waved around him like fire as he glared at the Goddess of Flash with a look filled with willpower. Yoruichi was taken aback for a second, absolute astounded by the display of power. "This reiatsu…"

* * *

 **The next day:**

"Ah," said Uryu as a small white butterfly entered the cell he was trapped in. "A cabbage butterfly came in." The insect flew around a little bit before landing in the Quincy's forehead. "How cute," he chuckled. "I wonder if it's Spring here."

As this happened, the three others in the cell with him just stared in mild concern. "I think your friends lost it," Ganju leaned over to Orihime. She could only nod in agreement. "Go on, you can chase it around if you want, Uryu. I won't tell anyone."

"What?!" exclaimed the white robbed teen. "Why would I want to chase it? And don't address to me so casually! Last I checked, we weren't that close!"

"What?" the Shiba said in confusion, "I didn't think we were close at all."

"Then don't call me by my first name! You've been nothing but a pain since we met!"

"What?! I was just trying to be friendly! It's a Shiba custom! You got a problem with that?"

"Ssh," Chad hushed, getting everyone to become quiet. As everyone did this, they began to hear strange noises coming from outside their cell. It seemed to be the sound of chaos as the sound of things breaking gradually grew louder.

"It's definitely getting closer," stated Ganju as everyone grew a sweat drop from hearing the screams of grown men behind walls. As soon as it came, it stopped. Everything went dead silent which caused the Ryoka to grow a little bit nervous. "It stopped."

Just after he said that, the ceiling came crashing in, creating a massive hole above them. "What's going on?!" Uryu shouted.

As the dust faded, several figures began to appear. "You!" pointed Ganju in comedic terror. "You're Kenpachi Zaraki!" He shouted, giving the impression that the Captain's presence was enough to give him a heart attack

"H-Hello, everyone," said a rather shy voice from behind the captain. Looking behind, they noticed both Isane standing with the rest of the group and Hanatarou being held like a newspaper in Ikkaku's arm.

"Isane! Hanatarou!" shouted Orihime in excitement.

* * *

 **ANOTHER SCENE CHANGE: (man, there's a lot of these)**

Renji had sheathed his sword and tied his hair back into a ponytail as he walked back to the ladder. "Right," he said, "I'll be going."

"I'll see you later," replied Ichigo not bothering to look back.

Renji gave a concerned look as he soon walked off. "Hey, Yoruichi. Do you think Ichigo will be okay?"

"Don't worry about it," she replied.

"I'm not. I'm not asking if he'll survive or not. I can see he has come a long way. I'm asking if he can achieve Bankai."

Yoruichi went quiet for a moment. "Who knows," she said giving a shrug.

"You ready, Ichigo?" called Zangetsu from atop a rock. "I'mma give you one more shot. Thought I warn you. Just because we're running out of time, doesn't mean I'm going easy on you."

"Look at the situation I'm in!" Ichigo shouted as he pointed out the ten duplicates of Zangetsu scattered around the place. "Does it really look like I don't know that!" He wiped a bit of blood from his cheek before giving a cocky grin. "Besides, I wouldn't've let you go easy on me, even if you tried."

The two just watched as the teen fought off all of the Zangetsu at once. "Renji," said Yoruichi. "Do you remember the first time you walked?"

"What? Of course not!"

"That's because you weren't aware of it. So, what made you stand up? All people are born knowing how to stand, birds all know how to fly, and all fish know how to swim. That's all instinct. That instinct that makes us strive for more strength. And it's that same instinct that gives Ichigo his drive. He probably already knows he possess the power instinctively. That is why I believe in him. That he can achieve Bankai."

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

It was the call time for all Captains. The execution was about to commence, and everything seemed calm. "Are you alright Captain Soi Fon?" asked a plump man with a purple collar around his Shihakusho. Ever since her battle with the Ryoka named Ichigo, she seemed to be very distant to everything, which was very unusual for her. "The execution is about to start."

"Very well," the petite captain stood up from her desk and began to walk out the door. "I know you're coming Ichigo," she thought to herself. "I will make sure to finish what we started."

* * *

 **Back with Ichigo:**

Ichigo ducked to avoid another attack before kicking the clone in the stomach sending him flying back into a cliff side. Immediately, his attention turned to two other clones from behind to block both of their strikes before pushing both of them back and round housing one into the other. His movements were being more fluid as he no longer needed to think as he dodged each offensive the clones threw at him.

Turning around left out a mighty roar as he clashed his sword against another clone's causing the weapon to shatter, but it wasn't his weapon. Surprisingly, this time it was the clone's blade that had broken into pieces. Zangetsu couldn't help but smirk as he watched his user grew stronger by the minute. "Well it's about time."

As Ichigo was a stalemate with one of the clones, it suddenly dispersed into thin air. Confused, he looked around at the other clones only to find that they had disappeared as well. "It seems you are ready," told Zangetsu. "Now time for your final test."

He charged at Ichigo and collided zanpakutos against one another. "Defeat me at full power!"

They clashed blades a few more times, each time sending a loud crack to echo throughout the training ground. Both of them were moving purely by instinct, reacting to each other's movements and taking the best possible solution of any openings that they could find. For a while, it seemed like they were evenly matched as neither of them could push the other back.

But then, in a vibrating buzz, Zangetsu seemingly teleported Ichigo to strike. This caught the teen a little of guard as he twirled around to block it. However, he was too slow as the blade made a shallow cut through his torso.

His energy was beginning to wear thin from blood-loss as his body was gradually moving slower and slower, allowing more opening for Zangetsu to land a hit on him. Though he had fought multiple clones, fighting the spirit at full power seemed much more difficult. His movements were faster, and had more punch to them.

The this continued for ten minutes as the two fought like it was life or death, but the battle became more lopsided. Realizing he was at the disadvantage, Ichigo had gave himself some distance. The two stared each other down for a while as Ichigo used to time to catch his breath. In frustration, he grit his teeth before charging up his zanpakuto with all the reiatsu he had left in him and raised it above his head. Seeing this, Zangetsu smirked.

"Getsuga!" Ichigo cried.

"Getsuga!" Zangetsu mimicked.

" **TENSHOU!"** With a quick slash, both of them brought their blades down and released a crescent of energy towards each other, Ichigo's being one of pure blue, and Zangetsu's being one of red and black. Upon colliding with each other, a thunderous explosion blew up in front of them.

With a swipe of his sword, Zangetsu cleared the dust that was picked up from the detonation to reveal him point his index and middle finger at Ichigo with a small ball of energy at the tip. "Cero." A blast of energy came zooming at Ichigo whose eyes were filled with horror.

"Ichigo!" yelled Yoruichi in terror as she watched the attack travel straight through Ichigo's side. "No."

"A man King, and you were so close too," taunted Zangetsu as his wielder fell on his knees. This caused Yoruichi's blood to boil as she glared in anger at the zanpakuto spirit as she found herself on the verge of beating him until he was unrecognizable to anyone. He began walking towards the teen with his sinister grin on his face until he was only two feet away from him. "Such a shame you couldn't achieve Bankai." He placed his sword beside Ichigo's neck. "You would've been ridiculously strong with it."

With as much strength as he could muster, Ichigo lifted his hand to grab the blade. He then whispered something that the Spirit couldn't quite hear. "Hmm? What was that? I couldn't quite hear that?"

"I said," Ichigo suddenly pulled a large piece of a broken zanpakuto and jammed into Zangetsu's stomach. "Don't get cocky. Kousen," he said with his last bit of energy as the shard grew a blue aura around it, "Tenshou."

A beam of blue light traveled straight out the back of the Spirit, practically impaling him with it. When the attack finished, both of collapsed to their backs and laid sprawled across the ground with a pool, both red and black, of blood gathering underneath them. They both stared at the ceiling as they laid in silence, letting the mood settle in. A weak smile crept across Zangetsu face.

"Congratulations, King," he said weakly, "You've done it."

Ichigo took a moment to catch his breath before replying. "Thanks."

"So, I guess that means I have to give you Bankai, huh?"

"Guess so."

Zangetsu couldn't help but give a small chuckle as he gave a foxy grin. "That was quite a finish though; did you come up with the name on the spot?"

Ichigo responded with a laugh of his own. "Yeah. Not very creative, but I think it sounded cool at the time." They both shared a laugh before everything went quiet again. The pool of their blood gradually came closer and closer to one another.

"Light Ray Heaven Piercer," the Spirit said to himself. "I think that's rather clever. It certainly did shoot in a straight line."

"Yeah." There was another long pause before either of them spoke. "I'm still a bit upset about the whole 'there is one sword' thing though. Really sent me on a wild goose chase."

"Heh, but you figured it out in the end."

Ichigo grew a grin of his own. "Yeah, when you told me that all the swords represented my weakness, that pretty much gave it away. I just needed to strengthen them with my own abilities and power." This earned another chuckle from the Zangetsu, which confused Ichigo. "What?"

"You know Ichigo, you've really proven yourself today. When push comes to shove, you always push yourself overcome any obstacle in your way, even if that obstacle is stronger than you. It makes me almost proud to be your zanpakuto."

Ichigo's eyes widened a bit as he found himself a bit surprised by Zangetsu's words. "Thanks," he replied.

"You know Ichigo, I think that you deserve more than just Bankai from me. I mean, after all, you did beat me with only your own power."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. "Is there a power beyond Bankai?"

"Ah man, you have no idea," Zangetsu said with a hysterical laugh. "There is so much more that you can achieve. But I won't go into any spoilers; that would just ruin the fun. For now, just rest until you are ready to save Rukia."

Zangetsu's body then began to fade away as their finally merged. Ichigo was filled with content as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Thank you," he said, on the verge of passing out, "Zangetsu."

"Heh, no problem." The teen then finally closed his eyes and began to rest once his pale duplicate disappeared. He had finally done it. Ichigo Kurosaki had achieved Bankai.

* * *

 **Ichigo's Inner World:**

On the side of one of the skyscrapers, Zangetsu began to materialize into existence from an ash-like substance blowing in the wind. He looked at his stomach where he had been stabbed and placed a hand on top of it. "Damn, that really hurt," he said rubbing the location.

"You held back," spoke a voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw a scruffy middle aged man with long, wavy hair and a black clock covering everything except his head. He had a scowl that seemed to be permanently sewed onto his face with only a pair of sunglasses to cover it up.

"You know as well as I do that he isn't ready for that kind of power. Besides, didn't you help as well, giving him that information in his dream," the pale man sneered. The other man just remained silent and emotionless. "Guess that means we're even." Zangetsu looked up at the sky with his golden eyes. "He's become very strong. Give it time."

"I'm not worried if he can do it, I'm worried that he may not reach that level in time."

"Have some faith in the kid. He defeated me at roughly quarter of my power with his own power alone."

"But you were in your base form," retorted the man clothed in black.

"True. But once you realize how strong my base form really is, a quarter is still a lot. My full power in that form is twice as strong as any captain level Soul Reaper in their Bankai. Do you think he really would have stood a chance? Besides, you can't just always rush things, or make them stop from happening. Once you do that, it only adds limitations for him making it almost impossible to reach that level without Final." The old let out a begrudging grunt before leaving. "In time, old man. In time."

* * *

 **Hueco Mundo:**

Many figures had gathered around a table with only ten sitting in their seats, quietly, as if they were anticipating something. These were the Espada. Hollows that have ascended past their Vasto Lorde counterpart and infuse themselves with the power of Soul Reapers. All of them were incredibly powerful in their own right, some as strong if not stronger than Captain level Soul Reapers. However, only four of them seemed to be a little on edge while the other half seemed perfectly relaxed, but a little irritated.

"Something is approaching our location," spoke a calm, thin man with pale white skin and teal green tear marks that went down his closed eyes.

"So?" replied another figure who possessed short spiky blue hair. He leaned back in his chair before continuing, "If I can't sense it, then it isn't worth our time. It was a waste bringing us here."

"Silence," commanded the lone female of the group. "This is something that you simply cannot comprehend."

"The woman is right," backed up an ancient looking man with wrinkles as old as time covering his face. "I can sense nothing but raw power from this reiatsu I'm feeling. It is faint, but potent."

"Who cares, we can easily take care of it, what's the point. Like what Grimmjow said, if we can't sense it, then it's not a problem," butted in a lanky man with an eye patch covering his left eye.

The weaker members of the group collectively agreed with the statement while four of them still felt a little uneasy about the situation. From what they could pick up, whatever it was that had emitted the energy was something rather concerning. It was brief, small even compared to the rest of the group, but there was another layer to it. It was like the light rain before a destructive the storm.

The pale man suddenly opened his emerald green eyes. "It is here." Everyone froze for a second upon hearing the information before hearing a faint roar in the distance that echoed like a haunting ghost. For a few moments, everyone went dead silent, listening and waiting for the thing to make its next move.

After a few seconds, one of the walls exploded creating a massive hole with a figure standing inside of it. The figure was tall and reptilian, but had the body structure of a human with black scales and yellow spikes. The creature's long tail waved threateningly with three spikes jutting out the end of it like a trident with the middle being the longest. There seemed to be small surges of electricity that would spark every now and again around its body. However, that wasn't the most peculiar thing about it. The thing that seemed to fascinate them the most was that it neither had a white mask, nor a hole, and no one could sense any reiatsu being emitted from it.

The creature let out a low growl as it scanned the room and all its people in it.

"Who are you?" demanded the elder. The creature had made no response expect for the opening of its mouth.

In a bright flash of light, the creature suddenly disappeared from sight. They stood there confused for a moment before hearing the sound of screaming agony. Looking over to see the source of the sound, they saw Luppi gripping his shoulder in pain with blood leaking from the stub that used to be his arm. His arm had been completely lopped off.

A low growl came from behind them as they turned to see their comrade's torn off arm in the creature's mouth. It dropped the appendage letting it flop to the floor and leak its blood to from a small, red pool. It narrowed its solid yellow eyes and let out a low growl, indicating that it wasn't close to being satisfied.

Everyone drew their swords with a few calling out their weapon's names, transforming into different types of bizarre animal-like figures. "Apacchi, Sung-Sun, Mila, stay back," ordered the lone female Espada. The trio seemed quite confused at first, but after taking one look at the fearful expression on their leader's face, they immediately followed the order.

Sparks crackled around the animal's body as it stared at the Espada with a delirious look in its eyes. The reptilian bellowed out a mighty roar that shook the entire foundation of Los Noches before charging with its yellow, blade-like claws into the enemy.

* * *

 **A/N: Phew, that was a long time between chapters. Well, I know it's a bit early but, Happy Halloween. I guess I'll be saying the same thing about my next story coming out this Halloween for Godzilla. I did mention that I wanted to post a Godzilla fanfic from my previous chapter, and I was wondering when would be a good day to post the chapter. Then the great me thought to myself and said, "Hey, you know what day would be great to post a story about monsters? Halloween!"**

 **SO, that's all for announcements. Please feel free to criticize my work in the review section or any way you want, I'm a sucker for improvement and I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Also feel free to check out my other story coming out this Halloween on my profile about Godzilla. I spent a lot of time trying to lay out what the story will be like and how it will play out. I hope it lives up to your (surprisingly low) expectations.**

 **Also. Wow, we passed 100 favorites for my story! *insert party blower sound effects* Honestly guys, thank you so much. Call me power hungry, but I like seeing that number go up. But seriously thank you so much for following my story.**

 **Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you have a** _ **SPOOKY HALLOWEEN.**_

 **From Yah Boi,**

 **Constant Recycling**


	10. Time to Kick Gum and Chew Ass (Wait)

**A/N: Merry (late) Christmas all you kissasses out there reading this… Or Happy Holidays… call it whichever, I don't give a fuck.**

* * *

 **Soukyoku Hill:**

The attendance of the execution was surprisingly low with less than half of Captains appearing for the ceremony. Everyone was silent in the somberness of the moment as they were about to watch a kind soul burn before them. It was rather depressing for most, though some saw it to be fit as there was an order to be withheld.

"Kuchiki Rukia," called the Head Captain, an Asian looking old man with a silky, long, white beard who looked to be at least a century old. "Do you have any final requests?"

The former lieutenant gave a weak smile. "Yes. Just one."

 **Meanwhile:**

Ichigo's eyes suddenly snapped open from his slumber as his whole body shot up as if he had been awakened by a nightmare. The first thing that popped to mind was the attack Zangetsu called "Cero". He immediately pulled open his shihakusho to see the damage that had been dealt to him. Upon inspection, he saw that there were no remnants of the attack anywhere on his body which mildly surprised him. But then he remembered, he did have Hollow regenerative abilities.

"Rise and shine sleepy head, it's time for your big entrance," called Yoruichi as she entered into the room. "Oh, you're already up! How you feeling?"

"I've been worse," the carrot top shrugged.

Yoruichi looked at him closely. He had the same expression as he did the previous day when he woke up, except this time, something was a little different. "Did you have that dream again?"

"Kinda," Ichigo chuckled. Something suddenly clicked in his head as gave a surprised look before turning to the werecat. "Wait. How did you-"

"You have the same look as you did before," she told him simply. "But now I see more confidence than before."

Ichigo gave a gleaming smile that was rather disarming for Yoruichi. "Well, let's just say Byakuya is going to get a bit of a shock when he sees what's coming for him." Ichigo then remembered something as he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, I have something to tell you."

Yoruichi gave an odd look. "What is it?"

 **Soukyoku Hill:**

"Very well. As you have asked, we send the Ryoka back unharmed the dawn after your execution," said the Head Captain.

Rukia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much."

Despite what the he said, everyone else knew that the Head Captain wasn't going to keep his word.

Several men surrounded the large zanpakuto and began to release their reishi. "Release Soukyoku," ordered the Yamamoto. The men surrounding the massive halberd zanpakuto unleashed more of their spirit energy into their own respective pillars as pillars of blue shot up into the sky from each pole. The rope connected to Soukyoku quickly broke before unwrapping themselves and shoot off into the ground beneath the hill side.

Rukia stared distantly at the large zanpakuto. "Even though my heart had been burdened by Gin Ichimaru, it has slowly regained its peace. Is it because of Head Captain's promise, or is it because by brother has completely deserted me while my pathetic, confused heart clung to life?" She looked solemnly at Byakuya with a weak smile on her face. "Thank you, Brother."

Three cubes emerged from the ground and slowly rose in front of her. A force from within the blocks grabbed hold of the Kuchiki's appendages, one for each arm and the bottom one for her legs. She was then lifted into the air up to the point where the two wooden pillars she stood between were connected by another rectangular piece.

Nanao watched with a torn expression on her face as her friend was set in place. "Nanao," her Captain said, getting her attention. "Don't look so pained. You'll make me sad too."

She looked down at the ground with the same expression as before. "I'm not making this face because I'm in pain," she told Shunsui.

Just then, flames began to erupt around the large zanpakuto as they swirled around it like a tornado of fire.

"Wh-What?" said the lieutenant of squad two in absolute astonishment. "This is Soukyoku's release?!" Clearly this wasn't an everyday thing.

The zanpakuto lifted off the ground and positioned itself to point directly at Rukia as the flames around it emitted nothing but raw power that left almost everyone speechless. Suddenly, wings began to form and spread from the torrent of flames as the fire formed a large phoenix.

"Kikou," said Yamamoto. The creature's eyes opened its eyes and stared straight into Rukia's soul. "He is the true form of Soukyoku's halberd, the final enforcer of extreme punishment. When he pierces through the criminal, the execution will end."

"I'm not afraid anymore," Rukia told herself. "I have lived well." Her old memories began to flood her in her final moments before death. "I met Renji and his friends, was adopted by Byakuya, and was led by Kaien. Most of all, I was saved by Ichigo." She closed her eyes as she accepted her fate. "I am not suffering. I am not sad. I have no regrets. I am not leaving behind my heart."

Rukia opened her eyes again to stare at the majestic spirit once more. "Thank you," she found herself saying. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated this a few more times before tears began to form in her eyes. "Good-bye." She closed her eyes one last time, letting every last bit of emotion out of her before her end.

She waited for the sensation of burning to overtake her senses. She waited… and waited… and waited. "You can open your eyes now," spoke a familiar voice. Doing what the voice said, she came across a sight that left her completely speechless. Standing before her was none other than the Orange Haired Teen of Chaos (I'm trademarking that), Ichigo Kurosaki holding back the Soukyoku with one hand, giving her a warm smile. He looked different from the last time she saw him. This time, he wasn't wearing that horrifying mask nor was his shihakusho its dark shade of gray. Now, it was its standard black.

"Sup."

Rukia was in utter shock as she stared in amazement and confusion at her friend being completely deadpanned about the whole situation. "Ichigo?"

"You know it!" he said, giving a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile.

A surge of emotions began to rise in the petite Soul Reaper. She was happy beyond belief to see that Ichigo was alright. But that joy quickly turned into anger. "You idiot!" she suddenly shouted, confusing the teen. "Why did you come back?!"

Ichigo had to do a double take on that. He blinked a couple of times before saying the most nonchalant, "What?"

"You should already understand this! You cannot defeat Byakuya!" She gritted her teeth in frustration. "This time you'll really be killed!" Ichigo's eyes became hidden, overshadowed by his bangs. Not noticing this Rukia continued her rant. "I've already decided that I am ready for my execution! I don't need to be saved! GO HOME!"

And just like that, Ichigo snapped. A large tick mark appeared on his head as he pointed his index finger at the Soul Reaper in anger. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, BITCH!" Ichigo shouted at the top of his lungs, silencing Rukia and almost scaring most of the people on the ground. "I go through the most intensive training any anyone has ever seen, and this is the thanks I get! You still think I'm not a match for your brother! Look at me! I'M HOLDING BACK A GIANT, FLAMING CHICKEN FOR GODSAKE!"

Rukia just stared, dumbfounded by the sudden yelling and insults that Ichigo was throwing at her.

Ichigo then pointed his index finger at her angrily. "Now you're gonna let me save you, and you're gonna LIKE IT!"

Back on the ground all the attending Captains were in a state of awestruck as the Ryoka continued to hold back the firebird. "Impossible," said Soi Fon. "Did he really just stop it? The Soukyoku halberd that has the power of one million zanpakuto… with only his hand!" The stealth Captain gritted her teeth in slight anger as a feeling of uncertainty began to create butterflies in her stomach. "Kurosaki, you bastard."

Shunsui was also impressed by the feat, but didn't show as much emotion as the others. "Nanao," he said turning to his lieutenant, "is this the boy that the other Ryoka mentioned?"

"Yes. His physical appearance also matches the reports sent from other squad members, but…"

Shunsui raised an eyebrow at his lieutenant's sudden drop of the sentence. "But what?"

A worried expression overcame her face. "He appears to be lacking the Hollow mask said in the reports."

"I see…" the Captain said before he tilted his straw hat over his face. "So, in the end, they were the ones who arrived on time."

The large phoenix let out a mighty shrill as it flew back a couple of meters and glared at the two. "No, fuck you!" Ichigo shouted, turning around to face the creature in a fit of anger. "Do you have any idea what I've been through to get this woman? You wouldn't understand how many times I've stood at death doorstep."

Rukia just stared in confusion at her friend's comment. "Ichigo? Who are you talking to?"

"The giant, fire chicken," he said deadpanned. "Who else do you think?"

The creature let out another call as if responding to Ichigo's comment. "What do you mean, 'you can understand me?' Of fucking course I can understand you!" The mighty Sougyoku let out another shriek, this time in anger. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for calling you a chicken. It's… It's just been a long day, okay?"

On the ground, Ukitake and company finally made their appearance with the Shihouin Crest. Just before he could throw the rope around the creature's neck, Shunsui raised he hand in front of the sickly man. The Captain looked at his associate in confusion. "Things are starting to get interesting," the drunk said with an amused smirk on his face.

Soukyoku let out another cry causing Ichigo to scrunch up his face. "Damn, sucks to be you, dude."

Another response from the phoenix.

"Seriously? But the voice, it just doesn't… You know what? Whatever. I don't have time for this right now. Can I just get my friend and go? I'm kinda in a bit of a hurry and I really want to kick Byakuya's ass."

The bird looked down to see who this Byakuya character was. It cawed once more. "The one that looks like they have a stick up their butt," said Ichigo.

Soukyoku made a low grumble and gave a look that made it seem like he wasn't specific enough.

"The black haired guy," replied Ichigo.

The bird then looked back up to face Ichigo to give him a small chirp that seemed a bit out of character for such a large creature. "Sure, I guess. If I have time."

The bird gave a nod before its flames began to diminish and it reverted back into its spearhead form, falling to the ground with a thud. Everyone just stared at the boy, completely at a loss for words as to what just happened. "So wait," Ichigo began, turning his head to look back at Rukia. "You didn't get any of that?"

"N-No," she replied hesitantly.

"Hmm," Ichigo hummed at the response. "Well, anyways." The teen jumped up to the stool suspending Rukia in midair as a blue aura appeared, surrounding Zangetsu. "Jailbreak!"

"Ichigo, what are you doing?" shouted Rukia.

"Isn't it obvious? I'mma break this bitch."

"Ichigo, stop-"

"Shut up and let me do an awesome!" He stabbed the stand, going deep into the wood before the whole thing began to glow a bright blue. In less than a few seconds, the whole thing blew up. Rukia felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and held her like a person would with a newspaper. "Now let's get you outta here."

When Rukia looked up at Ichigo, she couldn't help but smile as a warm feeling came over her. She could feel her eyes beginning to swell up from realizing just how far her friends would go to save her. "I'm not going to thank you," she said as tears began to fall from her face once again. "Idiot."

Ichigo grinned with content. If he wouldn't be able to save her, he at least knew that he made her appreciate living for a little bit. His attention turned to the people staring at him from the ground. Some of them seemed impressed, some of them seemed angered, and one of them looked like he was scared shitless.

"Ichigo," interrupted Rukia. "What are you going to do now? How can you hide from so many eyes watching us?"

"Hide?" Ichigo said as if were to most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "Pssh, I'm way passed that."

Rukia began to sweat nervously as she soon realized what Ichigo was implying. "You aren't seriously gonna…" She saw a cocky grin stretch across the carrot top's face causing her to become a bit paranoid. "Ichigo, these are Captain's we're talking about! Not just that, but the Head Commander as well. The most powerful person in all of Soul Society."

"Oh, really?" He said in slight surprise as he looked at the old man. Looking at his expression, Rukia knew exactly what was going through Ichigo's mind. More and more of his reiatsu began was released in his excitement as a small current of wind progressively grew stronger around him.

"Ichigo, don't you do it," she said, giving him a glare that was as sharp as knives.

Ichigo, in return, gave a foxy grin. "I'mma do it."

As they both continued to stare at each other for a while until both of them noticed the sounds of someone getting knocked out. Looking over to where the noise had come from, they saw all the summoners of the Sokyouku, knocked out and laying on the floor. "Great job!" Ichigo called out sarcastically. "You really showed those defenseless soldiers who's boss, Renji!"

Renji, still winded from his injuries against Byakuya, scowled at Ichigo. "Fuck… you…" he said in between breaths before falling to one knee.

"Renji!" Rukia called out in joy. "You're alive! Thank goodness."

"Of course," Renji grinned, momentarily forgetting about the pain from his injuries. "Who'd save both of you if I didn't come?"

"Well, we had Yoruichi!" Ichigo butted in. Soi Fon seemed to perk up at the mentioning of that name.

"Touché," Renji smiled.

Ichigo smiled back as he felt him finally beginning to bond with the lieutenant for a bit. "Well," Ichigo said, raising Rukia and held her by the strap around her waist. "Here you go."

The two Soul Reapers were a bit confused as to what Ichigo was planning. "Oi Ichigo. What the hell are you doing?" Rukia said worryingly, unsure as to what the teen was thinking of doing.

As for Renji, he knew exactly what the Ryoka was about to do, and he was more than a bit concerned by it. "W-Wait, Ichigo. You're not gonna…"

Ichigo wound back and loaded his legs. "Catch!" He then threw Rukia like a javelin sending her screaming towards an ill-prepared Renji.

"AAH! YOU IDIOT!" Screamed both of the Soul Reapers as Rukia was sent sailing through the air.

It took a few seconds before Rukia face planted straight into Renji's stomach, knocking him to the ground and sending them skidding a couple of meters. The two didn't lay there for long though as they both immediately shot up with angry expressions on their faces.

"Ichigo, you jackass!" the petite girl shouted first.

"Are you stupid!" her childhood friend yelled at a similar volume. "What would have happened if you had missed?!"

Ichigo just looked away with an annoyed expression as he picked at his ear. "You caught her so what difference does it make," he mumbled.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" both Rukia and Renji bellowed, furthering Ichigo's annoyed look.

Once he finished hearing their complaining, he turned to them with a serious look on his face. "Leave!" he shouted in a lower volume leaving both of them still in agitation at the fact he ignored their comments. Ichigo waited a second, but neither of them moved. "What the fuck are you still doing here?! Take her and leave!" Ichigo shouted back at them.

Though still a bit upset, Renji got back on his feet and ran off away from where all the action was taking place. "Don't let her go, even if it kills you," Ichigo said quietly.

The Captain of the second squad, obviously upset, began shouting at her Lieutenant. "What are you doing?! After him you dumbass! All Lieutenants, go!"

The only two Lieutenants present began chase after the rogue Abarai which didn't go unnoticed by the carrot top still standing on the execution stand. All they heard was a low buzz when suddenly, he appeared before them with a cocky grin on his face.

Omaeda gave a low growl, trying to intimidate his opponent so that he wouldn't have to fight him. "You're in my way!" he yelled. "Crush him, Gegetsuburi!" his zanpakuto a glowed bright yellow as it transformed into a large ball of spikes

"Bite," announced the other Lieutenant, "Gonryomaru." His Zanpakuto transformed as well, only his was just turned into a fencing sword.

Ichigo didn't say a word as his expression remained unchanged, allowing the two time to summon their Shikai. Everything seemed to fall silent all of a sudden with the two staring down the teen. Even nature itself grew quiet as the wind ceased to blow on the grounds they stood upon. The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, as it became harder for the two to breathe. Everyone in the vicinity had a spine chilling feeling run down their backs at the presence they were feeling.

It took a while for them to realize it, but they discovered that the source of the power was coming from none other than the boy between them and Rukia. In an instant, he unleashed an unrelenting amount of reiatsu that rendered almost every Lieutenants before him unconscious, including Nanao.

However, the orange skinned Lieutenant struggled to keep himself on his feet. Ichigo slowly began to approach him in a calm manner. The man's muscles tightened, as he watched the boy moving closer and closer. He weakly pointed his zanpakuto, preparing to do battle only to have the Ryoka pass right by him. "You're not my target," he said softly, not even paying the slightest bit of attention to the man.

As soon as it had come, the reiatsu suddenly vanished. A few of the Captains were a bit terrified by the amount of energy the orange haired kid had presented and how much control he had over it. Within that moment of his release, even they found themselves having a difficult time standing sturdily.

"So," Ichigo smirked as he rested the dull side of his blade on his shoulder, "who's next?" He scanned the area before pinpointing at two certain Captains that he needed to get even with. "Byakuya? Soi Fon? Any takers?"

"You insolent brat," growled Soi Fon as she drew out her zanpakuto.

Before anything else happened a blur suddenly passed her and charged straight towards Ichigo. He nonchalantly raised his sword and blocked the strike. Ichigo gave a smirk as he looked at the face of his attacker. "I told you already. I can see your movements, Byakuya."

Byakuya's stoic expression remained unchanged as the two looked each other down with intense stares. "What happened to your mask?" asked the Captain.

Ichigo was silent for a moment as he had an unreadable expression that matched Byakuya's. "I don't need it anymore. It wasn't my own power, so I had to grow stronger to become independent." He began to apply more pressure to the blade which alarmed Byakuya. Seeing that he was getting pushed back, the Captain jumped back in retreat.

With the two of them apart, Ichigo decided to use this time to ask questions of his own. "Now that I've answered your question, allow me ask one of my own. Aren't you Rukia's brother?" His reiatsu to flare up along with his anger. "Why do you do nothing to try and save her?"

"What an asinine question," said the Kuchiki which irritated the hybrid a bit. "Even if you were to learn why, someone like you would never understand."

A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's head due to the illusiveness of the Captain's words. God, how he hated that about him. It always sounded like the words coming out of his mouth were something from an emo kid… or a cringy fanfiction.

"It would seem talking will serve no purpose." Byakuya tightened his grip around his zanpakuto and began to charge it with his own reiatsu. "There is only one path left for me, and you're in my way."

Byakuya used Shunpo straight towards Ichigo with his blade ready to strike. As soon as he closed the gap between them, he swung his sword aiming to slash at Ichigo's chest. But the attack hit nothing except air as his target suddenly vanished from sight. Byakuya's eyes widened in fear as he soon realized what had happened. Immediately, he turned his head to look behind him only to find none other than Ichigo with his large sword poised for a critical hit on his back.

"Too slow." He lifted the Khyber blade above his head with his one hand, and gave one, mighty swing to put a swift end to the fight. However, instead of slicing through flesh, his blade was met with a loud clang that rang throughout the Soukyoku Hill.

At first Ichigo was stunned by the sudden sound of clashing metal. But soon, that surprise turned into a smile upon recognizing the figure that stood before him. "I was wondering if you'd join," The petite Captain gritted her teeth as she firmly held her position under Ichigo's sheer strength. "Soi Fon."

As thing started to heat up in the battle, the rest of the captains watched in astonishment at the display of power the teen was showing. However, the Head Captain paid little attention to that as he stared at the crest Ukitake was holding. "Captain Ukitake," he called for his attention, "what purpose do you have for bringing the Shihouin Crest? Was with the intention of destroying the Soukyoku?"

The Captain was hesitant to answer, but he did nonetheless. "That was indeed my intention."

Genryusai didn't bother to say anything as he gave a dissatisfied look at the white haired Captain. "This is your final chance. Are you going to join us, or are you going to continue your pursuit with this foolishness?"

Ukitake gave an unsure look to the Shunsui. The straw hat Captain just gave his pokerface smile before blocking his eyes from view. The white haired Captain understood the message before giving a glare of determination. "I'm sorry Captain, but I'm afraid I will have to continue. Rukia is my squad member, I must do everything in my power to protect them."

"You are not ignorant of what this means," said Yamamoto with disappointment behind his voice.

"No," replied Ukitake. "No, I am not."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder which surprised him a bit. "Alright, then there's no choice!" Shunsui said in his usual upbeat manner. "Shall we run away for the time being, Ukitake?" Before he could give a reply, the two Captain suddenly disappeared along with Nanao. The Head Captain watched in dismay as two of his strongest subordinates ran off. After a few seconds, he too, disappeared.

 **Outside the Seireitei:**

Jidanbou punched the ground with a great amount of might, but it wasn't out of anger or frustration, it was to test his arms durability, checking to see if it was functioning correctly. "You really alright, Jidanbou?" asked a man who was in the same room as him, his haircut was designed like a strange mohawk.

"Yeah," the large man responded, "I'm all better now. Sorry for putting everyone out."

"I told you it all good," replied another one of the four.

"Be thankful to that girl instead of us," said another man who was resting his hands on a sword. "If that girl hadn't had worked so hard for hours on your arm, then you wouldn't have recovered at all."

"Yeah, Orihime," said one of the men dreamily as a blush appeared on his face.

"She certainly was cute," said another, entering into a similar dreamlike state.

"It's been five days since they entered the Seireitei," replied the one with the mohawk.

"Really? Five days, huh?" Jidanbou replied rhetorically. "I hope their alright."

"Are you that concerned, Jidanbou?" shouted a female voice from outside. The door to the warehouse began to open up, revealing an all too familiar figure. "If so, then come with me."

Everyone was incredibly surprised to see who it was with only the large man being unable to say any words. "Kukaku!" the three unnamed men shouted.

This cause the female Shiba to spread a grin across her face. "Yo."

The three normal sized men immediately stood up at attention with their backs as straight as sticks. "Good to see you again!" they all said stiffly.

"Yup," she replied, not paying much attention to them.

"We will wait upon you, ma'am," the only one with a weapon said.

Kukaku swayed up to the gargantuan man before folding her arms over her chest in a confident stance. "What's the matter, Kukaku?" Jidanbou asked politely, still a bit shocked by her sudden arrival. "Do you need me for anything?

"After sleeping for five or six days, you must be feeling rather depressed, Jidanbou." The large man made a confused sound as one of his eyebrows raised. The Shiba continued. "Why don't you join me in a walk. I have business with that bitch, Yoruichi," she said playfully.

Jidanbou, realizing the intent behind her words as a wide grin gradually began to stretch across his face. Soon, this expression was mimicked by the one armed woman as she placed her hand on her hip. "Let's go."

 **Seireitei:**

"Woop," Ichigo said comically as he dodged another swipe from Byakuya. As he moved back, he sensed Soi Fon's presence coming in from behind, and he effortlessly dodged her attack. However, the Captain of the Second Division expected this. She quickly stopped herself and did a full round house, aimed at his head.

Instinctively, he raised his arm to block the attack. As this happened, Byakuya took this as an opening to go for Ichigo's backside. However, as soon as he got close, the teen jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding the graze of the attack. Ichigo then used the reishi in the air to propel himself away from the two Captain before landing a good distance away from them.

Ichigo began to pour his reiatsu into Zangetsu creating an intense blue aura surrounding the zanpakuto. Noticing this, Byakuya did the same action except with him, the aura was pink. The two glared at one another once again before Ichigo used Shunpo to charge at Byakuya, clashing their blades several times over. Each collision possessed so much force that it caused the ground below them to crack or outright shattet into pieces from the blow. However, the entire time, it was Byakuya who found himself on the backfoot as he was frantically blocking Ichigo's strikes.

"What's happening?" Byakuya asked himself. Not three days ago Ichigo was less than equal to his strength, and now here he was, pushing not only him back, but another Captain as well at the same time. To add on to that, it looked like he was barely even trying as Ichigo's face maintained a bored expression almost the entire fight.

Finally, Byakuya found himself in a stalemate with Ichigo as their two blades were resisting each other's force, putting them on equal ground for the moment. As the two stared at each other, Ichigo noticed the faintest of eye twitches from Byakuya.

At first, he was confused, but soon realized the situation he was in. He quickly ducked, knowing exactly what their plan of attack was. Once he did this, the two Captain's had a minor heart attack as Kuchiki watched Soi Fon in midflight coming straight at him with her zanpakuto aimed directly at him.

Both of Captain's eyes widened in shock as the two were on the verge of colliding. They both made their attempts at dodging one another, however, Ichigo would not allow this. He balled his hand into a fist and both punched Soi Fon then back kicked Byakuya in the stomach. They both had the wind knocked out of their lungs as saliva spat from their mouths. They were both sent sailing back a few meters before finally finding their footing.

"This is impossible," thought Byakuya, a bit winded from the fighting. "How could he have grown so strong is in such a short amount of time?" A feeling began to boil deep inside him as his heart rate increased rapidly. There was something unfamiliar, yet nostalgic to him about this feeling. This feeling was none other than anger.

Soi Fon was feeling the same way, though a bit more annoyed than Byakuya. "This brat," she thought with gritting teeth. "How is he able to avoid us so easily?"

Ichigo, seeing both of their frustration let out a sigh as he shook his head in dissatisfaction. "You're both holding back on me, aren't ya?" he sighed in disappointment. "It seems to me like you're just testing the water. Like you aren't taking me seriously." Ichigo didn't bother to catch a glimpse at either of them as he stared off into the landscape that was Soul Society. "Let me tell you something. My power is like an ocean, and you have yet to even see the tide. If you're struggling to keep up now, well… you're gonna be in a world of hurt once the storm comes in."

He turned his head and locked eyes with Byakuya before giving a cocky smirk. "Besides, I thought you were gonna kill me, and here I stand without a single scratch on me. Are you telling me that this is the best the Captains of Soul Society has to offer?" Both Captains felt a shiver of anger run down their spin as their muscles tightened. Ichigo's simile disappeared as he locked eyes with both of them with a look of seriousness on his face. "Show me your Bankai."

Soi Fon was having a hard time deciding what angered her more, his insult, or the fact that he thought he could fight against a Captain in their Bankai state. Either way both her and Byakuya remained silent at his request.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the two as he looked back and forth between them before letting out yet another sigh of disappointment. "If you don't do it," he said, "I'm just gonna crush you both right here, and right now."

"A cheap provocation," scoffed Byakuya. "You can holler all you want, but it won't change my mind in the slightest. One way or another, I will kill you and see through with Rukia's execution, even if I have to kill her myself."

The Kuchiki began to move hand holding his zanpakuto while keeping his calm demeanor. "Bankai? Don't be stupid, boy." He brought Senbonzakura up near his face as he held it vertically in front of him. "You're a thousand years too early for the likes of you to die by my Bankai."

He closed his eyes as a pink aura surrounded his blade. "Scatter," the blade began to transform into thousands of sakura petals which swirled in front of him like a cyclone. "Senbonzakura."

Right at the mentioning of its name, a sudden blast of blue reiatsu passed right by Byakuya. The size and suddenness of the beam made his eyes widen in shock. The attack was so large and so powerful that there was no way he could have missed such a thing, and yet, he did. After a few seconds the energy dissipated and left a large scar of destruction in the ground.

"I'm sorry what was that?" he said mockingly. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of me _wrecking your shit_."

Both Captains stood wide eyed and motionless at what had just happened. Neither of them could believe what had happened. One second Byakuya was summoning his Shikai and then next a bright light appeared completely destroying his summon. As the two remained stunned from the attack, blood began to roll down Byakuya's arm and drip to the ground.

"What was that light?" said Byakuya. "Is that the power of your zanpakuto?"

"Yeah. When I swing Zangetsu, it collects my reiatsu then releases a highly concentrated energy blast from the blade. In other words, I just swung my sword," Ichigo said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He then looked at Byakuya, who still had the same stunned expression.

Ichigo wondered at this for a bit before it finally clicked. "That's right, I still haven't shown you this ability yet," he chuckled at the realization. "Well then, consider this an introduction to my attack. I call it, Getsuga Tenshou."

Soi Fon, who was watching the entire thing playout was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. She didn't know what to think of it. It wasn't because it was all happening so fast, but because it was all so sudden. Her thoughts were then cut short when the sound of metal smashing into stone rang in her ear.

Ichigo had stabbed his zanpakuto into the ground and stared at Byakuya with a determined look on his face. "Now, let me say this one more time." His reiatsu began to flare once more. This time, however, it took a physical form similar, emanating of him like blue steam. "Show me your Bankai."

"Moon Fang Heaven Piercer," Byakuya repeated the name of the attack to himself. "What an arrogant name." He then raised his hand and extended it forward with his zanpakuto blade aimed towards the ground. "So be it. Since you so strongly desire my Bankai, allow me to show it to you." He then released his blade, letting it fall straight into the ground which surprised caught Ichigo a bit off guard. "Remember this moment well," Two rows of swords began to emerge from either side of Byakuya as their surroundings suddenly turned into black oblivion. "Because before you can regret it, you will be nothing but dust in front of me."

The swords had stopped rising from the ground, he finally said the words Ichigo was waiting for. "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Ichigo was impressed by the display as he stared, whistling in amazement. It was quite the sight for him due to this was his first encounter with a Bankai that wasn't his own. After he was done admiring it, be brought himself back to reality and tightened his grip on his zanpakuto. He charged his blade with reiatsu, and launched yet another Getsuga Tenshou at the Kuchiki.

Byakuya stared with an unamused expression as the attack came hurdling at him. "How naïve," he said as a wave of pink flower petals rose from the ground to negate the attack.

The Captain then sent a flurry of pedals at him, forcing Ichigo to jump into the air to avoid the attack.

As his eyes remained on his opponent, Ichigo felt some reiatsu quickly approaching his position from above. Looking up, he saw those very same flower petals rushing towards him like an ocean wave. There was no way for him to avoid the speed of the attack as it came streaming at him at top speed.

Only two words came to mind as he watched the wave get progressively larger in his eyes. "Well shit."

Reacting as quickly as he could, Ichigo raised the flat side of his zanpakuto as a shield and blocked the attack just in time. However, the force behind the charge of petals had far more strength than him, slamming him into the ground. A large explosion of dust blew up when Ichigo hit the ground followed by a water fall of pink.

"The strength of Senbonzakura lies in its ability to attack with its many countless blades from all directions," Byakuya stated. "The strength of your zanpakuto is great, however, it is impossible to dodge my zanpakuto's attack." His fellow Captain Soi Fon soon appeared by his side to access the damage he had done.

The dust that was picked up from impact revealed a smoldering crater, and a beaten and bloodied Ichigo. He was kneeling and putting some of his weight onto zanpakuto for balance. His breathing was deep and rapid, getting as much oxygen into his body as he could in as little time as possible. All in all, he didn't look to be in any condition to fight. However, completely disregarding his injuries, he still managed to pick him. "Goddamn that hurt," he said as he regained his balance. "It was incredibly stupid for me to think it would be easy to beat a Bankai with my Shikai state."

Both Captains gave an amused look by Ichigo's word choice. "Watch what you say. You sound as if you have already achieved Bankai," said Byakuya.

Ichigo stood panting with his bangs covering his eyes. He was quiet only for a moment before a devious smirk appeared on his face. "Oh, Byakuya. There you go again, doubting my abilities. Go ahead and keep saying I can't do things. If there's one thing you should take away when dealing with me, it's that you should never assume."

He slammed his foot into the ground with enough force to crack a miniature crater. He let out a deep breath before letting out a burst of reiatsu appeared around him and began swirling around and rise to the sky like a cyclone. As the two Captains watched, they soon noticed the wounds on his body beginning to rapidly close.

"Impossible," thought Byakuya thought as they watched the teen's reiatsu rise at a rapid rate.

The final stage of the zanpakuto. Only a Soul Reaper of the highest level are able to attain it. Out of the four noble clans who are born with far greater reiatsu than others, only one in several generations have the abilities to reach that level. That is Bankai. But yet, this brat stood before him claiming that he had achieved that power, in was absolute blasphemy to him. How could he talk so casually about Bankai? How was he releasing so much reiatsu?

Soi Fon was having a similar epidemic at the sight of Ichigo's raging power. "What power. To be able to attain so much in such a short amount of time." She lost all feeling in her still body as a feeling began to emerge from deep inside her. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time. Admiration. Ichigo had been through so much and even went out of his way to learn Bankai, just to save Rukia. She could only imagine the amount of pain he must have gone through in order to do so.

From behind the trees, away from the cliff-side, stood Yoruichi, hiding behind the vegetation. She had been watching the whole thing pan out. She had remembered the favor Ichigo had said back the hideout. He wanted to test his abilities out, his strengths and limitations, against the likes of both Byakuya and Soi Fon. He had wanted to get even with them seeing as both had on win against him.

Of course, she was hesitant at first, but with a bit of persuading and compromising, Ichigo had convinced her. She hadn't had seen Ichigo's power after beating Zangetsu, but now that she had a full view and sense of Ichigo's power, Yoruichi felt confident in her star pupil. She found herself chuckling a bit when she looked back to see how much stronger the kid had become.

"You really are a monster, Ichigo," she whispered under her breath.

Ichigo raise his sword and pointed it in the direction of both Byakuya and Soi Fon and used his other hand to grab the inside joint of his elbow. "BAN-KAI!" The dust swirling around them suddenly dispersed at the explosion of power as a pillar of red and black energy shot straight into the sky.

"His reiatsu. It changed," everyone thought in confusion. Aside from its color, the energy that Ichigo was producing was somehow from before. It caused the two captains to sweat nervously as the pressure he was exuding was very similar to that of a Hollow's.

The pillar of reiatsu suddenly disappeared. From amidst the settling dust stood Ichigo Kurosaki with a whole new appearance along with a new sword, and not a scratch on his body.

"Tensa Zangetsu."

He no longer had the usual shihakusho attire that he once wore. Now it was long sleeved, ankle-length coat that had a black exterior, but was red on the inside and had white lining around the collar and legs of the coat. His zanpakuto was now surprisingly smaller, looking more like a typical zanpakuto except keeping its previous obsidian black color and possessing a short chain at the end of the hilt.

The Captains didn't know how to react upon seeing the form of Ichigo's Bankai. Both were taken aback by the size of his zanpakuto. It was so much smaller than a typical Bankai, it didn't even look that special. Was he mocking them?

"What is this?" Byakuya final said, breaking the silence. "That little thing is your Bankai?"

"It's just a regular zanpakuto!" said Soi Fon a bit offended by the blade's design.

Ichigo just stood and gave a playful smile to the two Captains. "Well, I guess you can say that size doesn't matter. I bet you would know something about that, wouldn't you, Byakuya?"

A sharp exhale accidentally escaped Soi Fon's nose, but she quickly to silence herself as soon as she felt Byakuya's death glare. The Kuchiki's blood began to boil with rage as he moved the peeved look towards Ichigo. First the delay of the execution, then achieving Bankai, and now he mocks him with such barbaric jokes. Byakuya had had enough of it.

His teeth began to grit with his new-found fury. "I see… You enjoy treading on all things that we hold sacred. Then I'll show you! I'll show you what happens when you insult our honor! My honor!"

The pink petals began to gather around the Captain once more, swirling around him gently before turning into a giant wave behind him. They started to rush forward, but they didn't get very far.

Before anyone knew it, the petals dispersed into tiny shreds of pink and fell gently to the ground. Standing before the stoic Captain was the carrot top himself with his pitch black katana pressed up against Byakuya's neck.

"Your 'honor' you say? If killing your own sister is what you call 'honor', then I want nothing to do with it." Ichigo pulled back his blade. "I'll tread on something like that as much as I want." He then jumped back, away from the two stunned Captains. "That's the reason why I got this power."

He then turned towards Soi Fon and pointed Zangetsu at her. "I suggest you use your Bankai too, or you're not going to last very long," he said threateningly

She clicked her tongue against her teeth in irritation as she quickly entered her Shikai state. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of her cheek due to nerves as she took a combative stance and activated a white aura that surrounded her entire body.

"You fool," said Byakuya. "Why did you draw your sword away from my throat?"

The teen was silent to respond as they both glared at each other with expressionless looks. "Are you that confident in your abilities?" asked Byakuya. "Arrogance destroys the foothold of victory."

Again, silence.

"I'll tell you once more. That is no Bankai. One could never be so small and so fragile, and a lowly Ryoka could never even hope to reach that level." The fallen sakura petals started to levitate off the in around Byakuya's feet. "You will regret not slicing my throat when you had the chance. A miracle only happens once, never a second time."

Another torrent of petals came flooding towards Ichigo at lightning pace, but for Ichigo, they were too slow. Right before they made contact with the target, the teen vanished from sight. For less than a second at a time, Ichigo would appear only to dodge another stream of the seemingly infinite number of blossoms at the Captain's disposal.

Ichigo then suddenly appeared directly in front of Byakuya with his sword held high over his head. Kuchiki raised his hand quickly to create a wall to block the attack, but then Ichigo vanished from sight once again. The loud clanging of metal rang once more as he turned around to see Soi Fon, covering Byakuya's back from Ichigo's sneak attack.

The orange hair was moving at incredible speeds that the two Captains were having more than a difficult time keeping up with. Even Byakuya's Senbonzakura wasn't keeping up. Ichigo started to use Shunpo as he ran around the two Captains creating more and more afterimages as the seconds flew by.

The Captains couldn't follow his movements at all as they found themselves in a loop of constantly having to move their heads back and forth. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?" taunted Ichigo. "I can go much faster, you know."

"Don't get so cocky, boy!" yelled Byakuya. He raised both his hands, forming a cylinder of blossoms around both him and Soi Fon. He pushed his hands to the side which caused the wall to spread wider to take up the entire cliffside. As this happened, a hole suddenly appeared in on one side of the barrier of which Ichigo appeared through. The hybrid charged straight towards the backside of Byakuya only for a Soi Fon to appear in front of him.

"Got you." She thrusted her gauntlet forward, aiming straight for the teen's chest. With a quick maneuver, Ichigo spun around in midair, dodging the strike as it grazed past his arm, and leaving a small tear in his sleeve. As he struggled to regain his footing, a surge of pink covered his line of sight.

"Uh oh," said the carrot top nonchalantly.

Ichigo charged Zangetsu with his red and black reiatsu and discharged a Getsuga Tenshou, destroying the wall of petals collapsing on him. The wave fell apart into many thousands of petals, but Ichigo's counter didn't stop there.

The attack continued its path, rushing in towards an off guard Byakuya who quickly raised another barrier to negate the strike. But this one was persistent. Instead of exploding upon collision, there was a bit of a stalemate between the two Bankai abilities.

After a few seconds, Ichigo's counter proved too much for Byakuya's defense, cutting through the wall and making contact with Byakuya's arm. Seeing the time that was given to him, Ichigo used the reishi in the air to push himself back away from his two opponents to give himself some room.

The two Captains stayed in their spot seeing that it was too risky to attack him without thought. The Kuchiki was holding his arm tightly as blood leaked from a rather deep wound inflicted on his shoulder. He was gritting his teeth in both anger and pain as he gave a hateful glare at Ichigo.

"Captain Kuchiki," Soi Fon called, catching her fellow associate's attention. "I hate saying this as much as you hate hearing this but, we can't defeat him like this. We have to go all out"

"Nonsense, I can-"

"Byakuya! If there's one thing I've learned from my experiences as the Captain of the Stealth Division, its that you should never underestimate an opponent's abilities." She turned back to face Ichigo. "With you in Bankai as well as me in Shikai, we still have yet to put a scratch on him. Even now, I can barely follow his movements. We need to rethink our strategy."

Kuchiki clicked his tongue frustratingly, but inclined to his ally advice. "His Bankai compresses all of his reiatsu into that small blade allowing him maximum fighting capabilities at unimaginable speeds. I think I have a way to get around that."

Ichigo wasn't paying much attention to his two opponents as he accessed the small tear in his sleeve. No butterfly mark had appeared meaning that he was in the safe. "Shit, that was actually pretty damn close. But I still have one more trick up my sleeve." He then looked toward both Soi Fon and Byakuya who were both discussing something that Ichigo could pick up on. "Hey! What are you two talking about!"

The two then finished their conversation to look back at the impatiently waiting teen. "Pay attention Ichigo," said Byakuya. The blood that had dripped to the ground suddenly began to glow a bright pink and rose up like fire. The whole area seemed to follow suit as pink reiatsu rose like a raging fire all around the three. An uneasy feeling began to come over Ichigo as he tightened his grip on Zangetsu.

The flames then shot up into the sky to form a dome of darkness around them. "This is what happens… when I abandon all defense… and risk everything to kill my enemy."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the proclamation, bracing himself for whatever was yet to come. "This is the true form of Senbonzakura." Dozens upon dozens of glowing swords surrounded them as the environment turned black. "Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Ichigo, for the first time in a while was in complete awestruck. He couldn't make any remark or even breathe for a moment. He just stood and stared.

"Don't worry," said Byakuya bringing him out of his trance. "This procession of thousands of swords will not attack you all at once. Senkei is the form I show to only those-" he extended his hand sideways, breaking free one of the swords from its perfectly aligned row so that it would land in his hand, "who I vow to kill by my own hands. You are only the second person to see this."

"Was the first one Renji?" asked Ichigo out of nowhere. "I bet it was Renji. Man, he managed to push you this far? Props to that guy."

The two were astonished by how lightly Ichigo was taking whole situation. They couldn't figure one what emotion to feel at this point. "Hmm?" he said noticing the confusion on their faces. "Oh, I'm sorry. I stopped worrying the moment you said that the swords weren't going to attack me all at once."

"This…" muttered the Captain. "This is the last time you mock me!" a torrent of pink reiatsu exploded from Byakuya. Smirking at this, Ichigo did the same as a burst of red and black reiatsu exploded like fire around him.

As the two built up their energy, the ground below them cracked as chunks of earth teared from the ground, having them float in the air. "Here I come, Kurosaki!" called Byakuya.

In a blur, both of them vanished from sight. A loud clash of metal was heard which was then followed by a large explosion of white energy. The two figures then reappeared several meters away from the crater they had created before charging at each other once again. With each strike from their zanpakutos, a burst of energy would blow up leaving behind nothing but a fresh crater in their wake.

After a few more blows, the two of them reappeared apart from each other, panting heavily from exhaustion. "Damn he's become much faster in this form," thought Ichigo as he wiped a bit of blood from his face. "But, I'm still faster."

"He's not slowing down," though Byakuya worryingly. He too wiped a bit of blood running from his forehead before taking a readied stance and charging back at the hybrid.

This struggle continued on for a while as now both of them were fighting on almost equal footing. However, from Soi Fon's eyes, it was still clear that Ichigo still had the upper hand. She waited patiently for her opportune moment to strike.

Finally, after a minute of waiting, Byakuya had parried one of Ichigo's attack, rendering him a bit off balanced. Using this moment, the Second Division Captain leaped at her top speed towards Ichigo. She reared her straightened fingers and jabbed Ichigo with Suzumebachi. Ichigo didn't have time to react or move, allowing the strike to make contact on his right shoulder.

"Got you," said Soi Fon before leaping away to wait once again for her opportune moment.

The teen clicked his tongue in frustration of his carelessness. "Well that's not good," Ichigo made a mental note before blocking another one of Byakuya's strikes. "Damnit, one more shot like that and I'm finished."

"He is still keeping up with Senkei," Byakuya thought in irritation. "Does he have no limit?" He stuck again, but Ichigo was quick to avoid the attack and began sending a barrage of attacks of his own. Byakuya quickly jumped back to avoid the attacks just in time. "Damn you Kurosaki!"

Ichigo didn't allow the Kuchiki to recuperate as the teen immediately closed the gap between them. He dashed towards Byakuya again sending another flurry of attacks. Byakuya was quick to block all of them, but something was different about them. They weren't as quick as before, and weren't nearly as precise.

"He's slowing down," he thought as he waited for another opportunity to parry. After a few more strikes, he did so and knocked Ichigo's zanpakuto back leaving him exposed again.

Soi Fon noticed this and immediately went for the final strike. She was a mere few centimeters away from making contact before she noticed a smirk grow on Ichigo's face. Her eyes widened in horror as she herself in a position where she could no longer maneuver to avoid the attack. Ichigo brought his zanpakuto down diagonally and slashed it across Soi Fon's chest.

Blood gushed from her chest as she lifelessly fell to the ground. Byakuya, though shocked at Ichigo's trickery, didn't spare a moment to attack the distracted Ichigo. The teen quickly effortlessly jumped back avoiding the strike completely.

Soi Fon struggled to pick herself back up as the feeling of pain enveloped her nervous system. "Damnit, I was careless," she said to herself. More blood poured on the ground as she picked herself off the ground. "Byakuya! We need to finish this now!"

He only nodded in confirmation as he started to regather all of his reiatsu. All the swords around him suddenly vanished and gathered into the zanpakuto that he was holding on to. A vortex quickly appeared teeming with white energy as wings spread on each side of Byakuya and a large ring around appeared behind his back. "Shukei Hakuteiken."

"Bankai!" The gauntlet around Soi Fon's arm also began to emit a white energy as it grew exponentially in size, turning into a golden rocket launcher. "Jakuho Raikoben."

"Ah man, that's cool as shit!" thought Ichigo before shaking his head of distractions. "Oh shit, that's right… I have to avoid that."

Byakuya raised his now single sword over his head and Soi Fon aimed her Bankai at the orange hair. "Eat this!" they both shouted as both Captains launched their attack at Ichigo. First there was a bright flash of light that illuminated the already sunny day. Then there was the sound; the thunderous crack of combustion as the explosion engulf all its surroundings.

Finally, the wind. The powerful energy displaced the air, creating a powerful gust that sent everything flying. Trees on the hill were all uprooted and sent sailing in every which direction. The sheer amount of destruction was unprecedented. There was no way anything could have survived the blast.

It took a few seconds for everything to clear up. The bright light had dissipated, and the wind settled down leaving a large smoldering crater at the top of the hill. Soi Fon let out a single small triumphant laugh. "There's no way he could have survived that."

She then collapsed to her knee as the pain became too unbearable for her to stand. A small laugh of relief escaped her lips as she bled. "It's finally over," she said. "We won." She called off her Bankai state thinking that it was over.

Byakuya, though exhausted as well, remained standing. He had to find his sister to finish what he had set out to do. "Rest for now Soi Fon, I'm sure Unohana will be on her-"

His sentence was cut short when a familiar presence began to rise from the crater. Their eyes widened in disbelief as they looked back to the gaping hole in the eart. "There's no way," said Soi Fon in horror. "How?"

Byakuya had the same feeling as his associate as only one word came to mind when he stared at the crater. "Impossible."

From behind the dust, a silhouette struggled to pick itself up from the ground. It stabbed the sword it carried into the ground for the person to keep its balance as it panted to catch its breath. Once the dust settled once more, it revealed none other than Ichigo, struggling to keep up his own weight as liters of blood leaked from his body.

He looked up at the two Captains with the flame of determination still very much in his eyes as he wiped a bit of blood off his mouth with his sleeve. At this point, it was just his pure willpower that kept him standing on his own two feet.

"…Ow," he snidely remarked.

Byakuya was relieved to see the condition that the teen was in. He then outstretched his hand to have a sword then materialized in it as the two gave glaring looks at each other. "Impressive, Kurosaki," he began. "You managed to survive a blast that could kill anyone of us Captains.

"What did I tell you before?" Ichigo smirked. "Never assume when you're facing against me."

"I have indeed learned that today, but as you can see you are no longer in the condition to fight. This is the end of the road for you."

Yoruichi, who was now hiding in a ditch from one of the unrooted trees, was now ready to jump in to rescue Ichigo.

Just as she was about to leave the ditch, she heard Ichigo begin to chuckle softly.

Byakuya raised and eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Do you remember when you asked me what had happened to my mask, Byakuya?"

Everyone's eyes narrowed at the sudden question.

"I do remember, yes. What relevance does that have with this?" he answered.

"I answered your question by saying that it wasn't my power, and that I didn't need it," Ichigo continued, ignoring the Captain's last question. "I guess I was wrong."

"What are you saying?" shouted Soi Fon. "That you're going to bring him back out again?"

Yoruichi's heart nearly stopped when she heard the proclamation. After seeing that 'thing' completely annihilate Soi Fon with little to no effort, she wasn't going to allow it to be set free. It was psychotic, a rampaging animal with no self-control. Yoruichi was not willing to see it harm anyone again.

Ichigo just gave a smirk that made everyone's blood run cold. "I'm not bringing Zangetsu out, no."

A sigh of relief escaped both women upon hearing this while Byakuya remained tense.

"I'm bringing out something much worse." A blast of pressure burst from Ichigo as black reiatsu began to swirl around him like a vortex. The energy moved like lightning, jagged and static. The color had changed once again. Instead of a crimson red outline, it was now an illuminate blue.

The reiatsu was suffocating. It was far beyond anything they had ever faced before. What was this power?

" **Allow me to answer your question,"** Ichigo said calmly. His voice had become bizarre, like there was a faint gargling that echo every word he said. "This reiatsu you're feeling is Zangetsu's and my own combined into one." He raised his hand over his face and gathered the blue and black reiatsu into the palm of his hand. **"And this…"**

The energy quickly surrounded his face entire face leaving on his eyes visible to see. His deep brown irises turned glowing yellow, and the whites of his eyes had become black. Ichigo brought his hand down to expose a white mask with red stripe markings on the left side of it.

" **This is where my mask went."**

No one could believe their eyes as they stared in awe at the raw power that Ichigo was displaying. A feeling of hopelessness soon over took both Captains' senses as they stood frozen in fear.

" **Now you see,"** Ichigo said in his distorted voice as he gripped his katana with both hands and pointed it towards the two Captains, "you never stood a chance to begin with." He took a deep breath as he gathered the circling energy into the obsidian blade.

A bright blue aura built up around the hybrid's blade. Zangetsu emitted a low hum from the sheer amount of energy being built up in the zanpakuto. It was so immense that it caused the blade to vibrate somewhat.

" **Gekkou,"** he said in a hush voice. The blue and black energy around him began to gather to the slim sword before moving to the tip. A small sphere of energy, no larger than a baseball, appeared at the tip. **"Hakai."**

Within the next instant, the ball of energy blasted huge ray of blue and black energy towards the two Captains. All they saw was an intense glow rushing towards them. They were sitting ducks watching wide eyed as their lives flashed before their eyes. They were soon swallowed up by the attack, disappearing from sight, like everything else.

Yoruichi watched in both amazement and horror at the blast of reiatsu that seemed to cut the cliffside in half. She was amazed at how powerful Ichigo had becoming in just three days. She was having a hard time believing that the innocent boy whom she teased so much was capable of so much. But that wasn't the only thing she was on her mind.

A small rise of concern popped into her head as began to realize that her two former pupils were caught in the blast. shapeshifter wasn't sure if they were alive or not. After an attack like that, it was most likely that they had vanished with their surroundings.

It took a few seconds for the attack to fade into the air. But once it did, it revealed a large scar in the earth that cracked the cliffside in half and two collapsed bodies lying on the ground. Ichigo turned around and cupped his hand in front of his mouth. "Don't worry, Yoruichi!" he shouted, "I didn't kill them!"

He faced back towards the two Captains and noticed that Byakuya shifted ever so slightly. "I think it's time I got some answers."

Byakuya struggled to move across the ground as he reached for his zanpakuto only to have a sword be stabbed right in between him and it at the last second. "Sup asshole," said a distorted voice. He looked up to see the mask wearing Ichigo staring down at him with his yellow eyes. "I think it's time we talk for a bit."

Ichigo kicked the zanpakuto away from the broken and beaten Captain as he sat down cross legged in front of him with Zangetsu stabbed in the ground beside him. He dispelled the mask so that they could have a face to face conversation. "So… tell me, why are you so insistent about killing your sister?" his voice returned to normal.

Byakuya just gave him an angered glare as his teeth were clamped shut. "Come on man, I beat you fair and square. It's time to give a little about your back story. That's how these things work."

"Why do you want to know? I've already told you, you'd never understand."

"At least let me hear you out. Then I'll be the judge of that."

Byakuya let out a sigh of defeat. He knew there was no way around it. Ichigo was going to keep bugging him until either he told him, or he'd die from blood loss. Seeing as there were no other options, he'd much rather die at peace than to die annoyed.

"Sinners must be brought to justice," Byakuya began. "Once their punishment is decided, it must be carried out. That is the law."

"So it's all because of the law? You'd kill your own sister just to uphold it?"

"Sympathy towards relatives? It's worthless." Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the statement. "Compared to the law, feeling means nothing. I don't have much worthless sentiments like that to begin with. The Kuchiki family is one of the Four Great Noble Clans. We serve as examples to all Soul Reapers. Who would enforce our laws if we didn't uphold them?"

Ichigo stared long and hard at the fallen Captain as the gear turned in his head. "Yup," he finally said. "You were right, I don't understand a thing."

Byakuya let out a small laugh. "Figures."

Ichigo opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly closed it shut when he realized what Byakuya had just done. "Did you just laugh?"

"No."

"You totally did!"

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Oh, right. If I was in your position…" he paused for dramatic effect, "I would fight the law." Byakuya stared at him like he had grown two more heads which slightly worried Ichigo. "What? Is there something on my face?"

It all suddenly clicked in Byakuya's mind. He wasn't Ichigo's true enemy. He had been fighting Soul Society's laws from the beginning. He gave a small half smirk as he laid his head against the ground to look up at the sky. "No, there's nothing at all."

Ichigo gave a warm smile. "You know, underneath all that stoic bull crap, you're not such a bad guy."

"You're not too bad yourself, Kurosaki." A shocked look came over the teen as he stared at the Kuchiki in surprise. Did he just get complimented by Byakuya? "If only you weren't such a brat."

A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's, but he refrained himself from further injuring the Captain and stared off into the skyline. Yoruichi had heard the entire thing surprised, but happy at how well the two were able to communicate with one another. She decided to invite herself in, surprising Byakuya a bit with her presence.

"Hello, boy," she said with a playful smirk.

Byakuya just gave a hateful stare seeing as he couldn't do much else. This earned a small giggle from Yoruichi as she sat beside Ichigo and rested her head on his shoulder. It wasn't in a romantic way. The intent was more for the sake of a resolution. A chance to breathe after everything that she had seen Ichigo go through.

The three rested in complete silence as the sound of the wind blew past their ears on the hill top. It was nice. For the first time, no one was trying to kill each other. It was just them enjoying the moment.

After a little while Ichigo sensed several familiar presences approaching. Yoruichi caught wind of this as well as she lifted her head and looked for the oncoming group coming to them. A bright smile appeared on Ichigo's face as he saw who they were. "Inoue! Chad, Ishida, Ganju! You guys are alright!"

"Well, we're really not alright, but compared to how beaten up you are, we're like unharmed," said the Quincy.

Ichigo let out a chuckle. "Yeah, but if it weren't for my regeneration abilities, I'd be in a much worse condition." He looked behind them to see the two friends he had made along the way. "Oh! Isane, Hanatarou! You guys made it too!"

Hanatarou smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we were all broken out by Zaraki."

Ichigo grinned. "I'm just glad to see you again."

He then turned to Orihime only to see her pouting childishly as she stared at Yoruichi. "Um, Inoue?" called Ichigo.

"Hmm, yeah?" she said, breaking her out of the gaze, returning her to her normal bubbly personality.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she then stared back at Yoruichi with a concerned look on her face. "I was just wonder who this woman was. After all she did save you," she said, referencing the time when Ichigo first fought Byakuya on the bridge.

"Okay first of all, I could have taken him," he said with full confidence causing the one's who knew better to roll their eyes. Ichigo then lazily pointed his thumb at the dark skinned woman. "And to answer your question, that's Yoruichi."

All the Ryokas' eyes widened in disbelief as their eyes moved to Yoruichi in unison. The woman just gave them all a cheeky grin, pleased to see all of their surprised faces. "Hi how you doing?"

"EEEHHHHHH!?" the whole group shouted simultaneously.

"Ow, my ears," thought Ichigo, rubbing his ear.

Orihime was the first to break free from her trance as she suddenly appeared in different areas areas around the shapeshifter, examining extensively. "Are you really Yoruichi?" she asked curiously as she looked all over Yoruichi.

"Yup, the one and only."

The auburn haired girl stared at her with gleaming eyes as she seemed to be incredibly bewildered by that information. "Wow, you're so beautiful and cool!" she said.

Ichigo watched this interaction with a deadpan look on his face. "I just destroyed an entire cliffside and defeated two Captains at the same time, and this is what she finds amazing?" he muttered before slouching over in defeat.

"Don't be discouraged," said a voice as a hand pat him on the back. Turning around, he saw Isane with a bright smile on her face. "You did an amazing job!"

He was not prepared for such a shining smile as a small blush appeared on his face. He quickly stepped out of the Lieutenant's reach and gave a nervous chuckle. "Uhmm, thanks Isane," he said while apprehensively scratching his cheek.

Isane was a bit confused by Ichigo reaction but decided not to further the carrot top's in discomfort. "Oh yeah, Isane," announced Ichigo as he snapped his finger. The lieutenant immediately stood at attention at the mentioning of her name. "You think you could heal up Byakuya?"

Both her and Byakuya were a bit surprised by the request. Isane felt a bit reluctant to do so. "But why? Isn't he supposed to be the enemy? Wasn't he trying to kill you almost a little less than a minute ago?" The Captain remained silent in understanding.

"Yeah, so?" Ichigo pursed his lips as he shrugged. "That doesn't mean I want to see him die. He was only following orders. Besides," he looked back at the laying body of Byakuya, "if you're not gonna do it for me or for him, do it for Rukia. I'd hate to tell her than I killed her brother."

Both parties remained silent. In the end, Isane nodded her head and complied. She couldn't find it in her heart to argue with Ichigo. He was just too kind for her to get frustrated with.

She got down on her knees beside Byakuya and extended her hands above the fallen Captain. A green aura appeared around both of them indicating that she was beginning the healing process. Both Shinigami remained silent as the healing progressed, neither of them daring to look each other in the eye in fear of one's opinion from another.

"I'm sorry," Byakuya suddenly said.

"What?" replied Isane, wondering if she heard him correctly, but the Captain remained reluctant on repeating himself. Understanding the situation, a small smile appeared on her face as she returned her focus on healing the injured Captain. Hanatarou came in as well to help Isane make the healing progress quicker. That seemed to brighten the mood even more.

Ichigo watched as the tension between them loosened a little bit before letting out a sigh of relief. He then returned his gaze to Yoruichi and Orihime who was still staring amazed at the mocha skinned woman.

"Orihime!" he called for her attention. The two immediately turned to face the hybrid with wondering faces. "Can you heal Soi Fon over there?" he said directing towards the unconscious Captain laying face first into the ground.

Orihime stared at the fallen figure for a little bit before turning around and giving a childish salute. "Roger that!" she said cheerfully before skipping over to the woman's side.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile at how Inoue still managed to keep her cheery attitude, even after all that she may have been through. "I bet she'd really make someone a happy man someday," he thought to himself.

 **Meanwhile:**

Her eyes opened to an unfamiliar place. A rather scenic area filled with millions of lush flowers of all kinds all around as she found herself standing on the only hilltop in sight. "What is this place?" The woman said to herself as she examined the area.

"Hey Soi Fon," came a calm, friendly voice from behind her. She spun around to see who it was, only to find that the person standing before her was none other than the infamous Ryoka, Ichigo Kurosaki. He was still wearing his Bankai attire, but no longer had his Hollow mask nor did he have his zanpakuto. "Good to see you alive and well," he said with a rather charming smile.

Almost immediately, Soi Fon took a defensive stance. She was not convinced by anything in the situation she was in. She reached for her zanpakuto only for her to noticed that it was missing as well. She quickly turned her glare back to Ichigo with narrowed eyes. "What is this place, and what are you doing here?"

"Relax," Ichigo chuckled, "this is nothing more than a mere dream you are having."

The Captain scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself Ryoka. As if I would ever have a dream about you."

Ichigo gave her a deadpan look, "Then how do you explain all this then?" Soi Fon just gave a small huff before realizing the silliness of her thoughts. "You certainly are an uptight woman, you know that?"

"I don't need to hear that from you, Ryoka," she shot back.

"Oof, already off to a bad start I see," Ichigo said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He then gave a peculiar look at Soi Fon, which did not go unnoticed by her.

"What is? Is there something wrong?" she said curiously, seeing as his gaze was more observing than anything else.

The teen waved his hands in front of him while giving a goofy smile. "No, no, nothing's wrong. It's just…"

Soi Fon raised an eyebrow, waiting for the teen to give a response. "Well?... Out with it?"

"I wish that you wouldn't carry yourself like that," he finally said.

Her eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" he said as he tried to find the right words to explain himself. "I see that you're trying to be something. Trying to break out of a shadow that has been covering you for so long. You keep putting on this stoic act thinking that that it will help you escape from it, but really, you keep finding yourself in the same spot."

A frustrated look came upon her face upon hearing this information. "What nonsense are you spouting out? I am not putting on an act, this is just who I am." She crossed her arms in a huff before turning her back on the teen.

Ichigo remained quiet as he stared straight into her eyes, examining them for every ounce of detail. "It's about Yoruichi, isn't it?"

Almost instantly, the woman's eyes widened at the mentioning of Yoruichi's name. She turned around and gave a despising glare at the Ryoka. "What do you know about my relationship with Yoruichi?"

"More than you think," he chuckled before looking off to the side. "While I trained with her, she would sometimes mention to me this student she once had in her time as a Captain. One that always proved to be one of the best among the best. She even went as far as to deem that student as the closest to becoming her equal." He turned his head back to face the petite woman. "That student was you, Soi Fon."

She stood there in absolute astonishment from the words she was hearing. Her? Equal to Yoruichi? Did she really think that highly of her? It was all so much to process, she didn't know if she could handle it.

"Yoruichi told me that if she wanted to bring you with her, she would. But she didn't want you to be put in any kind of danger that she may have faced. She knew it was selfish of her, but she just couldn't bare to see you hurt. That is why she left without you."

She found her eyes beginning to swell up with emotion as she failed to contain them. To know that she actually meant something to the person who she devoted her life to all those years ago, and to know that she still does. It was like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders.

How embarrassing. Here she stood, a Captain, crying in front of a Ryoka. She knew she would never forgive herself for such actions later, but for now, none of that mattered.

Ichigo smiled happily. "Now I can see it."

"See what?" sniffled Soi Fon.

"You are finally becoming your own person." He stretched out his arms invitingly. "Need a hug?" he offered.

Soi Fon didn't show any signs of a response as she stared blankly at the teen's open arms. She wanted to hold back, to not give in to her instincts, but her emotions were far stronger than any logic she could muster. The Captain, without a word, ran up to the teen, body slamming her petite body into Ichigo's hug.

The teen just chuckled as the woman stood crying into his chest. Gently, he began to rub the top of her head soothingly to calm her down.

"It's okay, just let it out," he said comfortingly. "You don't need to keep it in anymore."

After a few minutes, her sniffling gradually came to a stop, but she still held onto the boy tightly. "Why was it you?" Soi Fon suddenly said, her voice muffled in Ichigo's clothing.

"Hmm?"

Soi Fon looked up into Ichigo's soothing brown eyes. "Why was it you to tell me all this? Why wasn't it Yoruichi herself?"

Ichigo just shrugged unknowingly, "I don't know. I'm just in the dream, you're the one making it."

It took a bit of time for the words to process in her head before it finally clicked in her head. She was dreaming of Ichigo… Wait, she was dreaming of Ichigo? Why was she dreaming about Ichigo!? That didn't make any sense!

The first time they met, she had almost killed him only to have him almost kill her. It just didn't make any sense.

Her face became a hot mess as a rather obvious blush tinted her cheeks with a bright pink color that anyone could have noticed. Her mind was rushing for an answer. Anything that could be logical, only to always fall short. As ideas and questions ran rampant in her mind, Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Whoa, whoa Soi Fon, take it easy. Our relationship hasn't gotten to that point yet. Let's start things off simple." He extended his hand out in front, gesturing for a handshake. "Friends?" he said with an endearing smile that seemed to brighten the very area around his face.

Soi Fon looked hesitantly at the gesture. She had tried multiple attempts at killing this boy, and yet, here he stood, hand extended, asking to be friends with the assassin that had previously tried to kill him. After some careful thought, Soi Fon saw no better option than to accept the gratuitous offer as she reached for his hand and shook it.

"Friends," she said with a half grin.

There was something different about the teen as she shook his hand that she had only just noticed. Ichigo's behavior seemed a lot more upbeat, and much less cocky compared to their previous encounters. His attitude reminded her of an energetic puppy seeing its owner come back home. It was rather adorable in her honest opinion, but she would never allow anyone else to know of it.

"Awesome!" exclaimed the teen. "Now it's time for you to wake up."

"Pardon?"

Small particles began to float up into the air in front of her, like pollen leaving the flower in the spring. She looked down only to notice that those particles were pieces of her body. Soi Fon looked back up to see Ichigo waving goodbye to her as she quickly began to dissipate. "It was nice to finally talk to you," he said.

Soon, the Captain was nothing more than pollen in the wind, disappearing from the realm of her dream. Later Ichigo also met the same fate, except his was much more sudden. Once he was gone, a small figure emerged from underneath the flower bed. It was a tiny woman clad in mostly yellow, and some black. Her attire resembling that of a wasp's exoskeleton.

"Well, well, well," said the tiny woman with a large grin on her face. "Looks like somebody's finally opening up their heart."

 **Snap Back to Reality:** **(Oh, there goes gravity)**

Soi Fon eyes snapped to find herself in an orange, translucent dome surrounding her. She turned her head a bit to the left to see a young, auburn haired girl with her hands extended to the dome. The girl quickly noticed this and gave the Captain a warm smile.

She looked down at herself and saw that almost all of her wounds had disappeared. Surprised, she looked backed to the smiling, young female. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"Oh! No worries!" she said before giving a sheepish giggle.

Soi Fon herself gave a weak smile at the girl's attitude as she rested her head against the stone ground. "Well, look who decided to finally wake up," a female voice said from her other side. She had heard the voice before. She recognized it all too well. The voice of the person she had devoted her life to all those years ago.

The captain immediately turned her head to see the source of the voice to see exactly the person she had expected. The beautiful dark skinned woman who she deeply admired. The state she found herself in was utter disbelief as she could only mutter one word. "Yo… Yoruichi."

The woman just gave her a warm smile as the two looked into each other's eyes for a good amount of time. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like it just enough for the two to connect once more.

"Good to see you're awake!" exclaimed yet another familiar voice, this time from behind Yoruichi. Tilting her head slightly up to see who had spoken to see the orange haired Ryoka himself, Ichigo Kurosaki. "Yo," he said as he gave a warm smile and a two fingered salute.

The memories of Soi Fon's dream came flooding into her mind as she stared into the hybrid's eyes. A faint blush gradually began to appear on her face, forcing her to turn away so that the two wouldn't see her in such a shameful position.

"You alright?" asked Ichigo a bit concerned. "You seem to be blushing a bit."

"It's nothing," she said in a huff head still turned away from the teen.

Ichigo raised his eyebrow. "Mmm," he hummed with suspicion in his voice.

Before anything else could happen… well… something else happened. There was a sudden pick up of wind near their location as a dome of white cloth suddenly appeared before unraveling to reveal Rukia in a coughing Renji's arms with a new, and unfamiliar figure standing beside them.

"What the hell was that?" exclaimed the confused red head. Their eyes widened as they saw the sight before them in utter disbelief. "We're… we're back at the Soukyoku Hill."

Ichigo immediately began shouting at Renji. "Renji, what the hell? You had one job!"

"Shut up!" he retorted. "It's not my fault!"

"Welcome, Abarai," spoke a new figure from behind him. Turning around, he saw Gin standing next to a man equal in height with messy brown hair, glasses, and a white haori.

Renji as well as Byakuya and Soi Fon's blood ran cold at the sight of him. Their body seemed to freeze in shock at the scene as the previously man who everyone thought was dead, was standing before them with a hauntingly calm smile gracing his lips. "Captain Aizen," spoke Renji in disbelief. "What's going on…"

Aizen's smile remained unchanged. "Please, put down Rukia and leave."

Renji was in too much shock to move a single muscle as he stared, astonished at the fact that the man before him was still alive. "But how? How are you still alive? More importantly, what do you want from Rukia?"

The smile on Aizen's lips fell as it was replaced with a look of peculiarity. "Strange. You were supposed to listen to me," he said sounding rather disappointed by the result of his demand. "Put down Rukia and leave."

From the sidelines, Ichigo was not having any of it. "What the fuck is this? Who the fuck are you? What the fuck is going on?" he exclaimed in a rather panicked voice.

As if by sheer coincidence, a calm, motherly voice began to speak from within everyone's head. "Those of Captain, Lieutenant, and seated position as well as the Ryoka, this is Captain of the Fourth Division Unohana Retsu. This is an emergency message. Everything I'm about to tell you is true."

After a few minutes of listening to the message, Ichigo lifted Zangetsu and rested it on his shoulder and moved in front of Renji. His bangs overshadowed his eyes as his scowl grew much deeper in his face. "I think I see the situation now. So, you're the guy who's behind all this, and who's ass I need to kick."

Aizen let out a small chuckle as he smiled amusingly at the hybrid. "I guess you could say that. However, I'm running on a rather tight schedule, but you're welcome to try."

"Well then," he lifted his head to reveal piercing, golden irises replacing his usual warm brown ones, "don't mind if I do."

In a quick burst, Aizen found Ichigo directly in front of him with his obsidian sword at aiming right towards Aizen's chest. The man's smile suddenly disappeared as his expression was replaced with a look of seriousness. He quickly drew his zanpakuto and stunted the jab using the flat side of his blade.

He was surprised. He hadn't anticipated Ichigo to be so in sync with his Hollow abilities and become so powerful. "Fascinating, Gin did not inform me of this. You've far surpassed my expectation, Kurosaki," said Aizen as the two found themselves in a deadlock.

Ichigo's eyes were filled with raw anger as they glared with flames at his opponent. "You're the reason Rukia got caught in this mess! If it wasn't for you, Rukia wouldn't have had to go through all of this, you bastard!"

A sinister smile reappeared on the Captain's face. "My, how quick you are to assume that its all my fault. Did Kisuke tell you nothing?" A confused look appeared on Ichigo's face upon hearing those words which caused the man to give his sinister chuckle once again. "Weren't you ever curious as to why Kisuke wanted you to save Rukia so badly?"

Having heard enough and seeing that his push wasn't getting him anywhere, Ichigo jumped back to get himself out of the stalemate. As he did this, he saw three blurs pass him, all aiming towards the monotone Captain. In less than a second, five different people appeared near Aizen. Byakuya, Soi Fon, and Yoruichi all tried to take advantage of the situation, but their pursuit was stopped by the other two traitors: Gin and the dark skinned man.

"My, my, so impulsive. Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to interrupt." Gin said mockingly as he stared down Soi Fon causing her to growl.

Byakuya and Tousen glared wordlessly at one another as they stood in an impasse with neither one of them willing to use more strength than necessary.

Aizen stood smiling calmly at the situation as his zanpakuto was raised, holding back the attack made by the Goddess of Flash. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Yoruichi?" he said ominously.

"I'd figure you were going to make a move sooner rather than later," she replied.

"Your intuition was correct. However, that isn't going to change anything."

Yoruichi's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen. "Everyone, get back!" she warned as she jumped back. But the others couldn't react in time. Blood began spewing everywhere from the two loyal Captain's bodies as Aizen suddenly appeared behind them. She could see their eyes widen in terror before becoming lifeless as they fell like rag dolls to the dirt.

Yoruichi herself did not entirely escape the attack as a piece of her clothing had a large tear in it revealing a long gash where blood was leaking from underneath. She placed her hand on her wound out of pain as she then looked at it to see it covered in blood. She gave a low growl as she stood her ground.

Aizen still kept his composed smile on his face as he turned back to Ichigo who was still awestruck, trying to figure out how the Captain was able to pull off taking out two Captains almost simultaneously. "So Yoruichi hasn't mentioned a word about it to you either?" he asked.

"Shut your goddamn face!" Ichigo shouted in anger. "I don't want to hear another word out of you!"

"Oh, but Kisuke is the whole reason this is happening to Rukia," he said calmly. "He's the one who put her in danger. Wouldn't you like to hear why?"

"I don't give a damn!"

Aizen's expression turned into a look of pity. "Shame," he said, "But I presumed you'd be this stubborn."

Ichigo almost immediately sensed something was off. As he sensed Aizen's reiatsu, in a split second he felt two of the same presence in a different area of space, and one of them was fast approaching. Reacting as quickly as he could, he brought up his zanpakuto in front of him as if to block an absent attack, and sure enough, it connected.

Sparks flew from the impact of the collision as Ichigo found Aizen suddenly appearing directly in front of him. Aizen had an astounded look in his eyes as they almost seemed to gleam when they stared at Ichigo. "Marvelous," he said. "You are the closest thing to perfection that I've been trying so hard to find."

Ichigo grit his teeth as he tried to hold his ground against the unrelenting pressure of Aizen's attack. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Oh, so you do care to hear my story," he grinned. "All things have a limit placed on them. It is the simple law of nature. One thing can never be omnipotent to all things, and it is the same for Soul Reapers. What ever method you master, your reiatsu is bound to hit a wall. That's where the growth stops."

Ichigo suddenly felt the weight on his blade loosen up as Aizen calmly lifted is zanpakuto to and stepped back to give the hybrid space. The teen was confused by the sudden display as they both stood eye to eye with neither of them poised to attack each other. "However, there is one way of breaking that limit: the transformation of a Soul Reaper into a Hollow."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the man as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "Yes," said the sinister man, "you're beginning to understand now. The concept had has existed in theory for a long time. I'd tired various experiments on fusing the two together. Hollows that could hide their reiatsu. A Hollow that can make a zanpakuto disappear by touching them. Even Hollows with the ability to fuse with Soul Reapers.

"But no matter my efforts, they never turned out right. Other researchers were bound by morality and stupidity, so no one made any sort of breakthrough. No one, except Urahara Kisuke. He created a device that reacts beyond the conventional physics of Soul Society. It could instantly dissolve the barrier between Hollow and Soul Reaper. That device was called the Hougyoku."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "So, does that make me your ideal result and what's this got to do with Rukia and Kisuke?"

"Indeed. You've far exceeded any expectation that I had for you. You're everything that I've been working so hard to seek. As for Rukia and Kisuke's involvement, Kisuke viewed his invention as dangerous so he sought to destroy it. However, he was unable to. In desperation, he put a barrier around his invention and buried it within the depths of a person's soul."

Ichigo's eyes widened upon realizing who that said person was. "You catch on quick, Ichigo," commended the captain. "The gigai he designed was meant to keep the Soul Reaper's power from ever recovering. Their control over that gigai would eventually become dull and would lead to them losing all their powers, and then change from Soul Reaper into a normal human spirit."

Aizen raised his hands to his waist height in front of him. "Do you see now, he had no intention of helping her. He was trying to turn Rukia into a human."

Ichigo's grip on Zangetsu tightened as he looked down at the ground with a somber look on his face. "Kisuke…"

"Not the man you thought he was, was he?" Aizen said rhetorically. "Now that you know the truth, I have one question for you, will you join me?"

Ichigo looked up, confused at the proposal. "What?" he nearly shouted. "Why the hell would I do that?"

Aizen let out a small laugh at the boy's reaction. "An understandable response. Allow me to elaborate. Originally, I presumed that you would be at war with your Hollow, always in conflict over who has control over your body. But now I see that you've moved passed that and accept the Hollow that resides within you as your own strength. As I said before, you are everything that I've been looking for and I can see that your strength will only increase exponentially which would make you extremely valuable for me. I see that you want more strength, more power to protect your friends and family. You deem yourself as strong enough, but as you will soon see, you are not. If you join me, I can grant you that wish, and your friends will be out of harms way."

Ichigo still had a skeptical look on his face which was to be expected as it was a choice, with no force swaying him to either side. That was until Aizen added one extra piece of information. "However, if you don't join me, all of your friends will be _much_ more involve in my plan."

Upon hearing this, Ichigo grit his teeth in frustration. His fists clenched as his mind raced for an answer. He could join them to keep his loved ones safe; to make everything as quick and as painless as possible. He could do all the wrong thing for the right reasons. Ichigo couldn't bare to see his friends in pain. He couldn't. He won't.

"Aizen," said the hybrid, "I've come to an answer." Aizen lifted his head slightly indicate his interest. "I reject your offer!"

Aizen's smile slowly disappeared upon hearing Ichigo's response. "I see," the lenses on his glasses gleamed to block the disappointment in his eyes. "What a shame."

Suddenly Aizen found the orange haired teen appear in front of him with his sword raised, aiming for the man's shoulder. "This is the end for you."

The traitor's sinister smile suddenly appeared once again. "Not for me," he said.

Ichigo swung Zangetsu with as much force as he could, but something was off. At the last second, Aizen's reiatsu changed slightly. Noticing this, Ichigo immediately held back on his strike as the blade cut through the smiling man much shallower than he had originally intended it to be. The Captain chuckled as he looked at Ichigo with an unchanged expression. "You've already failed your friends."

The image of Aizen suddenly vanished to reveal none other than Isane with a dumbfounded look on her face. Blood began to leak from the wound and slowly seep into her clothing. "I…chi…go," she said weakly before falling to her knees and collapsing before to the ground.

"Isane!" he called out as he caught her in his arms. "No, no no no!" he cried as he tried to put pressure on the wound. Isane raised her hand up to Ichigo's face, cupping it soothingly. She gave a warm smile as if to comfort Ichigo.

"Ichi…go-" she lost her consciousness as her arm fell limply and all her muscles became loose.

Suddenly, the calm atmosphere around him fell apart as if he had been transported back into the real world. Everyone suddenly reappeared into reality as he found most of them lying lifelessly on the ground with the only person standing being Yoruichi.

The three remaining fighters were winded. Yoruichi was severely injured, with blood dripping off every corner of her body. Ichigo brought his attention to another sight. In the center of the cliffside stood Aizen beside a large man with an animal head, presumably a dog, or a fox. In front of him kneeled Rukia with a shocked expression on her face as if she had faced a near death experience. In the man's hand was a tiny gem that was barely the size of his thumb resting in his fingers.

"Remarkable, so much power in such a small thing," he said before pocketing the stone. He looked back at Rukia before lifting her up by the collar around her neck. "You are of no more use to me," he said, "Gin, kill her."

"Guess there's no helping it," said the teal haired man as he grabbed the handle of his zanpakuto. He drew his sword and aimed it at the collared female. "Shoot to kill, Shinsou."

The length of the blade shot forward towards its target at an incredible speed. Rukia watched in horror as the reflection of the sword grew larger and larger in her eyes. It was all happening so quickly that she couldn't even come up with any final thoughts as her impending doom approached her.

Yoruichi, seeing the blade shoot towards Rukia, used her Shunpo technique to launch herself to push the petite Soul Reaper out of harms way. But her movement was slowed down by her injuries. She knew she wouldn't make it in time, but she had to try.

In the very next second, blood began to spill onto the ground, but it wasn't Rukia's blood. Yoruichi stopped herself as she skidded to a halt to see the sight before her. Rukia was now sitting flat on the ground, completely out of harms way. Confused, she looked up to see Ichigo in her place with a sword running through his chest.

His eyes were overshadowed by his bangs as his face held an unreadable expression on his face. He showed no signs of pain, not even in the slightest, but there was one thing for sure. He was absolutely pissed. "Ichigo!" she screamed as she reached for Ichigo.

Suddenly, she was hit with a wave of reiatsu like none other she had ever felt before. It was monstrous, and wild, like a beast untamed. The pressure was too much for her to bear as she slipped out of consciousness and fell to the ground.

For those still awake, could not believe what they were feeling. This reiatsu was something beyond strength, this was something far more sinister. This reiatsu was the epitome of unadulterated rage.

Gin retracted his blade from the hybrid's chest, but the teen remained unfazed as he stood with the same expression on his face. He lifted his hand over his face and curled his fingers as if to claw his face. He was visibly shaking with anger as his muscles tensed up.

"Ichigo," Yoruichi whispered under her breath as she was too shaken to use her voice.

" **AAARRRRRHHHHH!"** Ichigo roared as he brought his hand down across his face to summon his Hollow mask once again. There was a massive burst of energy that resonated throughout the entire Seireitei. Even Aizen had to take a few steps back as he too grew a bit fearful of the situation.

" **You bastard!"** he said in his masked voice. **"I'm gonna fucking kill you all!"**

His voice was a lot more menacing than before. It almost sounded like it wasn't Ichigo at all, like had become an entirely different person. Even his mask underwent some changes. Now, it had grew, covering a bit more of his head. A thin line, no more than an inch wide had appeared directly over his right ear connecting to the edge of his mask. At the end of that line spouted a small nub of a horn from the side of his head.

"Well this can't be good," said Gin as he readied himself for combat.

"We no longer have the luxury of time," stated Aizen in all seriousness. "The others are coming."

As if on que, a large shadow appeared overhead. Aizen and Gin both looked up to see a large man with a woman on his shoulder. She seemed to be chanting something as they descended onto their position. Suddenly, a strike of lightning came crashing down on them. However, this didn't seem to bother them as they effortlessly jumped out of harm's way.

That was a big mistake.

With them being distracted by the sudden ambush, Ichigo suddenly appeared beside Aizen with Zangetsu low to the ground. In a swift motion. He brought the blade up across the Captain's chest injuring him severely. But that wasn't all. Ichigo had charged his blade with reiatsu and released it, flying straight towards the brown haired man.

Being unable to avoid it, he raised his own zanpakuto to block the strike before having it explode in his face. Seeing the situation beginning to go south, he lifted his index finger and began to chant. "A crest of turmoil swells. The vessel of madness grows insolent." As Aizen's two allies noticed this, they immediately recognized what to do. They positioned themselves between Ichigo in order to by time, for their mastermind.

"They boil, they deny, they become numb, they blink, and they impede slumber." The blades of the three Soul Reapers clashed with great force as they did everything in them to take the other one down. "The princess of iron crawls." Gin shot his sword at the teen once again only to have Ichigo avoid it like the wind as he charged at the Captain and sent him skidding across the ground with one kick. "The mud doll ceaselessly destroys itself!" Tousen launched a barrage of swords at Ichigo, only to have them be swiftly cut down in the next instant. "Unite! Revolt!" Ichigo launched himself and slammed his sword into Tousen's with enough force to make his hands go numb for a moment. "Be filled with earth and know your impotence!" Ichigo, still in his fit of fury, sent the blind man flying with a Getsuga Tenshou and immediately resumed his pursuit of Aizen. "Hadou number 90: Kurohitsugi!"

Suddenly, a large black box quickly began to envelope the enraged hybrid. Not caring about the thing surrounding him, Ichigo still charged at the man with a blood curdling roar that didn't even sound human and pounced. He stretched out his hand to grab Aizen's face, but was too late as the opening quickly closed and the black box sealed with the teen a mere foot away from the Captain's face.

"Ichigo!" shouted his allies as he disappeared from sight.

The black box expanded, exploding with reiatsu to signify the immense energy put into the technique. After a few seconds, the box vanished to reveal an exhausted and bloodied Ichigo with his mask slightly fractured. Despite all this, everyone was surprised to see him still standing on his two feet, albeit barely.

He began to tilt slightly before catching himself by stabbing his sword into the ground. "I'm," he panted. "I'm not done with you… yet."

The astonished look on Aizen's face slowly turned back into its calm, chilling smile. He saw the wounds already beginning to heal as the minor ones closed right before his eyes. "I'm afraid that it is, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Suddenly, multiple figures appeared out of nowhere all around them. Ukitake, Shunsui, Yamamoto, along with other Captains and Lieutenants. "You have nowhere to run Aizen," said Yoruichi as she gave a hate filled gaze at the traitor.

Gin picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off only to have a sword pressed against his neck. "Don't move," said the person holding the sword.

"Rangiku." He turned his head to look at her with dismay in his eyes. "Sorry Captain," he said, "it looks like I've been captured."

"It would appear so," Aizen chuckled as he looked up at the sky.

"What's so funny?" demanded Ichigo as his eyes narrowed.

"Did I mention my plan of escape?" he asked rhetorically. Just then a pillar of energy shot down from the sky around each one of the traitors.

Wondering where this source was coming from, everyone looked up to see a large crack in atmosphere. The crack grew wider in size before white claws broke through it revealing a horde of Menos Grandes. As each of the Hollows poked their head out of newly created hole, a large purple eye appeared behind them that was opened just a crack.

Soon, the three Captains as well as the ground below them began to lift into the sky. No one made an attempt to do anything as they knew now that it would be impossible to even touch the three as long as they were in the Negashion. They could do nothing except watch. Everyone except one.

As everyone watched, they suddenly felt the pressure of the wind beginning to shift. Confused, everyone looked to see where it was coming from. There before their eyes stood Ichigo with only a quarter of his Hollow mask covering his face and his sword held ready to slash at his waist. Surrounding his zanpakuto was the blue and black reiatsu from before emitting burning like fire around Zangetsu. In an instant the flames grew to massive proportions as they burned like thrusters, engulfing a large area behind him making everything have a blue glow around it. Even the sky became a darker shade of blue.

He looked up with anger still very much burning in his eyes. "I said, I'm not done with you yet!" He loaded his left leg before letting out a mighty war cry. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo flung the monstrous attack up to the sky, aiming it directly towards Aizen.

When the attack hit, the explosion was much larger and more violent than anyone had previously anticipated. The very air they breathed seemed to vibrate under the sheer ferocity of the attack as it possessed the force to rattle the entirety of Soul Society. Almost everyone was awestruck at the display of power before a torrent of wind blew past them, picking up dust and particles all around and sending them flying every which way.

They all had to lift their hands to prevent the dust from flying into their eyes, but they were still glued to the now dying explosion. Despite the power behind the attack however, the result was still the same. Aizen remained unharmed and the Negashion still intact.

"Aizen," Ukitake stepped forward in anger, "why have you joined the Menos?"

The traitor was silent at first as he glared at the sickly man with an unhappy expression on his face. "To search for greatness," he finally responded.

Ukitake gave a similar expression right back at the man. "Have you fall so low?"

"You're too arrogant, Ukitake. From the very beginning, no one was standing in Heaven," he explained. "Not you, not me, not even God." Aizen the proceeded to remove his glasses and run his hand through his hair. "But now, that emptiness shall end." His glasses shattered to pieces in his fingertips. "From here on out, I will stand in Heaven. Farewell, Soul Reapers."

He then turned his head to Ichigo who was still staring at him with hate filled eyes. "And farewell, Ichigo Kurosaki. I hope to meet you again soon." And just like that, the hole in the sky sealed shut, leaving no trace of it ever existing.

 **Hueco Mundo:**

"That was really cutting it close there, Aizen," stated Gin, still feeling sore from the kick Ichigo gave him.

"A simple miscalculation," he replied before putting his hand on his bleeding chest.

"Well that 'miscalculation' almost got us all killed," Gin said in a matter of fact tone.

"I must agree with Ichimaru," added Tousen. "The boy's growth has far exceeded anything that we have previously imaged. He was even able to make a crack in the Negashion. He is still young, and he is only going to get stronger from here on out."

Aizen put his hand to his chin as he gently rubbed it with his index finger. "Indeed, I did not plan something like this." He then looked at Gin with a rather upset expression. "However, when you encountered Ichigo at the gate, you never informed me on how much more powerful he had become."

Gin just simply shrugged. "Didn't seem that important at the time. He was only able to block my shikai."

"At base form," Aizen corrected. "That didn't seem to alarm you in the slightest?"

Gin thought about it for a moment. "Huh, I guess that is rather peculiar. Sorry, my bad."

"Lord Aizen!" said a new voice from around the corner. A young male arrancar appeared before them, and kneeled at their presence. "Something has happened in your absence!"

"And what has happened?" Aizen said, unamused.

"It's the Espada! They've all been attacked!"

Each of the Soul Reapers raised an eyebrow at the announcement. Who had the courage to attack the only group of people that could take down the Seireitei? "Take us to them," ordered Aizen.

The arrancar bowed his head before standing up and guiding them through the hallways. As they passed through, they noticed holes of massive proportions in the walls around them. Some of them possessed singe marks while others were broken down by force. The whole scene seemed… chaotic.

Finally, after several minutes of walking, they found themselves at the doors of the infirmary. When they entered, they were met with an unpleasant sight. Most of the Espada had injuries all across their body with one of them having their arm dismembered. The only one that seemed unharmed was Ulquiorra.

Out of all of them, Harribel, the sole female Espada, was the most devastated by the situation. Her fraccion was nowhere to be seen which Aizen viewed as suspicious. Seeing the atmosphere in the room he approached Ulquiorra. The green eyed Espada looked up in surprised. "Lord Aizen, you're injured."

"Never mind me, what happened here?"

"We were ambushed by a creature of unknown origin and were swiftly picked off one by one. It's a miracle that it didn't kill any of us."

Aizen looked at the fourth Espada with suspicion. "What was this creature? A Hollow?"

"It possessed the appearance of one, however it lacked any visible hole on its body as well as its mask being black with yellow teeth."

The fugitive gave a look of concern as he scratched his chin in deep thought. "How did he get past all the Menos undetected?" he asked curiously.

"His reiatsu was incredibly well hidden. Only the top four Espada could sense him when he was outside the structure."

As the two, the lone female Espada sat worryingly in her seat with an empty look in her eye. Her whole Fraccion was lying unconscious in the medical beds beside her. She couldn't protect them from that 'thing'. He fists squeezed with anger.

If she crossed paths with that creature again, she had no intention of letting it live.

* * *

 **A/N: I was contemplating whether I should have posted this on Christmas or edit it a bit more so that it would more cohesive for you guys to read to make myself not sound like an idiot. I was going to post this the day after Christmas, but the damn website wouldn't let me load my story so I apologize for such a late update. As you can tell, this was a long chapter too, hence why it took so long to make and post.**

 **I'm a take a short break on this story so don't expect many updates next year, but don't worry; I won't abandon this story like all those other people on hiatus. After all the success and viewership of this story, there's no way I could leave this story behind. I'm not only doing this for myself, but for those who enjoy reading this. I freakin' love you guys/gals/whatever, I don't care.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and it's living up to your expectations, and feedback is always appreciated. Unless your complaining about the time between each chapter and the length of them, in which case, go fuck yourself. I do what I want!**


	11. The Calm Before the Storm

**Karakura A Day Earlier:**

"Hey Mom, I'm going out!" Tatsuki called out as she slipped on her shoes.

"Okay, stay safe!"

With that, she exited out the door and made her way to her destination. She hadn't done that much over the course of the break. Things were pretty relaxed for the first time in a while. The Hollows were no longer a problem anymore. In fact, she hadn't seen one for the past week, but why should she be suspicious of that?

She was making her way to downtown Karakura to buy some necessities, or maybe even some accessories if she was feeling up to it. Although, something on her mind had been bugging her for the past few days.

It was about Orihime and the rest of her friends. She hadn't seen them for quite some time now, and she began to worry if they were okay.

She looked up in an effort to forget her worries. She told herself that Ichigo was strong and that Ichigo wouldn't let anyone hurt those he cared about. Once she told herself that, the heavy feeling in her stomach had been lifted completely.

After a bit of walking, she had arrived at the bus station that would take her downtown. She looked at the scheduling stickered onto the pole to see that she had to wait three more minutes until the arrival of the next bus. So, she stood there, beside three other people who were doing the same thing, and waited.

Three minutes had passed, and the bus had arrived on time. The doors swung open, allowing for the people waiting to enter. They put in the money necessary for their stop and pulled their tickets out of the machine. By the time she did the same thing, she looked around for an empty seat on the bus.

There were quite a few people on the bus. She guessed that they were doing the same thing she was. It only took a few seconds for Tatsuki to find an empty seat. She strolled over towards it and sat down.

She didn't bother to look up as she pulled out her phone to see if she had received any messages. There were a few, but none from the people she was interested in. After that she decided to go on the internet and read some articles. She did this for about a minute before realizing that something was off. The bus hadn't moved in the entire time that she had got on.

Tatsuki looked up curiously to see what was going on only to see that there wasn't anything happening. In fact, there wasn't anything at all. Everyone had suddenly vanished with their personal belongings being the only indicator that they were ever existed.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping someone would answer.

There was no reply.

"Hello?" she said sounding a bit more irritated.

Again, no response.

"What the hell is going on?"

The first thing that came to mind was that this was some elaborate prank from a TV show just to laugh at people's freaked out reactions. She would continue to think that until she felt a bizarre tingling within her skin.

She began itching herself to try and satisfy the irritation, but it was all over and insatiable. She stood up to look around, but as soon as she did, a feeling of sickness rushed to her stomach. The pain was so immense that she collapsed to the floor.

Soon after it became increasingly more difficult to breath. It wasn't long until she was practically gasping for air as she curled up in a fetal position. Her breaths became more frantic as she gripped her throat. It was as if someone had dug under the muscles of her neck and grip tightly around her windpipe.

She tried to call out for help, but no words could come out of her throat. Her eyes began tearing up from the lack of oxygen in her lungs.

"Please," she thought to herself in desperation.

With one last attempt, she reached out her hand, begging for someone to rescue her, just to give her some feeling of hope. Her struggled soon stopped as everything faded to black.

* * *

 **Seireitei:**

"Second and third patrol, attend to Captain Kuchiki!" Iemura called forth as people were rushing left and right to assist other members of the fourth division. "Patrols seven, ten, eleven, and thirteen, take care of Lieutenant Isane! Lieutenant Abarai has finished surgery up to the sixth stage! Patrols eight and nine, get ready to move him!"

"Byakuya!" called Rukia as she tried to get her brother's attention. He was laying unconscious with four people gathered around him all contributing on healing the downed Captain. "Byakuya!" she called once again as she tried to rush over to his side.

She then felt a pair of hands tighten around her arms as an unnamed squad four member held her back. "You can't! He's in the middle of treatment."

On the other side of things, Komamura began tramping away from the scene slowly, putting great effort into every step. Several squad four members rushed up to try and assist him, but he shot out his hand to tell them to back off. "I'm alright now," he said in a very hoarse voice. "Take care of the others."

Despite his order, the squad four members persisted on helping him.

Iemura couldn't help but sigh at the sight before him. "This is absolute chaos," he said, shaking his head cumbersomely. "It's a miracle that no one died."

As he watched the madness ensue, a bizarre call had reached his ear. He turned around to see a giant, green manta ray-like creature flying towards them. On top of the creature was a figure riding on the top of it. He immediately recognized who it was as he silently began thanking whatever god there was watching over him at that moment.

Once the creature landed, Iemura rushed over to greet the rider, giving as respectful of a bow as he could. "Captain Unohana. What is the condition of Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Hinamori?"

"For now, they have escaped death," she stated calmly. "The rest is up to them to decide."

The Captain started walking over towards her patients with great haste. "Status report."

"Isane is currently being healed by the Ryoka, Soi Fon is almost finished with her treatment, Renji is currently being transported to the medical headquarter, and Byakuya is in need of higher medical attention."

As the two Soul Reapers continued walking, something in her peripheral vision had caught Unohana's attention. She stopped to give a puzzled look over at a body lying motionlessly, and lazily sprawled out across the ground. It was a rather curious sight for her as no one seemed to be helping the boy.

"And what of him?" she asked, point over to the unconscious carrot top.

"He's sleeping," the third seat said bluntly.

"Sleeping?" Unohana said, raising an eyebrow.

Iemura nodded. "Correct, reports say he had taken the most damage out of everyone here taking both Byakuya and Soi Fon's full powered Bankai head on and also getting hit by Aizen's Hado number ninety. He then collapsed right after Aizen had escaped."

"So then why isn't anyone helping him?"

"Because by the time we had arrived, all of his injuries had disappeared without a trace. Like they never even happened. When we and his friends offered to help him, he declined and requested us to leave him alone until he was ready. I'll tell you what, that kid is not human. He should even be in one piece, let along breathing. It's no wonder how he got this far."

Unohana hummed to herself in interest of the boy before turning her attention back to walking again. She smiled as she thought in the back of her mind that no doubt that he must have been the one that Isane was talking so much about. He certainly was quite the catch.

"Achoo!"

"Ah jeez, don't tell me you're getting sick," said his pale doppelganger.

"Nah, it was probably just some dust or something."

Zangetsu raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he said suspiciously. "Dust?... In here?"

Ichigo thought about his remark for a second before slapping his face at his own stupidity. "Wow." He said dumbfounded, "I really didn't think that through."

His doubleganger shook his head in disapproval. "You're such an idiot."

" _Anyways!_ " Ichigo said unnecessarily loud, trying to change the subject of the conversation as he wipes his nose with his sleeve. "Why does it matter if I get sick? Couldn't you just heal me up?"

Zangetsu pinched the bridge of his nose with irritation. "My abilities can only replace your cells, I don't heal them. I don't deal with viruses. Also, if you get sick then I get sick, and I don't like getting sick."

The two sat on the edge of a building in silence as they just stared off into the distance with empty looks in their faces. There wasn't much to talk about. Their situation had already passed its climax and now all that was left was its resolution, and usually nothing happens during the resolution.

"So," the pale spirit said, breaking the ice. "What do you think of your new power?"

Ichigo looked at his partner for a little bit before returning his sights back on the horizon. "Well," he said scratching his cheek, "I would say your powers are quite…" he paused for a moment to think of the appropriate word to use which was taking far more energy than it really should have. Out of panic, he said the first word that come to mind, "powerful."

There was a weird silence that dwindled uncomfortably in the air after Ichigo had made his comment. Zangetsu eyelids became droopy with disappointment. "The sad part is that I know that _was_ the best word you had in mind."

"Hey!" snapped Ichigo, "It's been a long day, okay?"

His partner just shrugged his shoulders with pursed lips without giving much thought. "Well, if that's the only word you can use to describe your powers now, I wonder what words you'll use when you're at full power."

Ichigo turned his head in shock as he stared wide-eyed at the distant spirit. "I can get stronger?"

"Yeah," Zangetsu chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, "and you can improve your current abilities even further. Right now, you're just in the process of leaving the cocoon. You just need to train off the baby fat."

Awesome. That was the only word the teen could use to describe the feel he had at the moment. Already he had proven himself to be strong enough to take down almost anyone in the Seireitei, and yet, here he sat, hearing that he could get even stronger. Even he became a bit uncertain if he was able to control his strength.

Zangetsu knew the thoughts going on in his wielder's mind. Whether it was because he was always in it, or just from his facial expression, he knew. "You're gonna grow up to be quite the monster, King."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

"Well, you're gonna have to be when the time comes."

Ichigo gave a suspicious look. "That's rather ominous, what you just said."

"Don't worry, it's all with good intention."

Once again, they both went quiet, listening to the silence from the world around them.

"Well, I think it's time for you to go." With a snap of his fingers, Ichigo was gone from the world without any retort. Zangetsu hadn't noticed this, but he suddenly forgot how to breathe as he forced a sigh. He picked himself up and summoned his bone-white zanpakuto into his left hand.

He gave his signature maleficent smile as he readied himself into combat position. "Come on. Why you gotta be like that?"

Ichigo soon awoke from his slumber with a groggy feeling covering his entire body. His body was much too tired for him to move so he tried the next best option. He turned his head to see the back of a squad four member.

"Hey," he called out. He got nothing.

"Hey!" he called out again, this time a little louder. Still nothing.

"HEY!"

A shiver traveled down the unnamed soul reaper upon hearing the teen's shouts as he turned around.

"Y-Yes?" he asked unsurely.

"Can you maybe give me some water, or something?"

"O-Okay," the young man then ran off in a direction where he couldn't quiet move his head to see.

Ichigo turned his head to look up at the orange, evening filled sky with an unreadable expression on his face. His mind wandered to the last attack that Ichigo had taken head on, the pain still remnant on his body despite it being fully healed.

"Oh, looks like you're finally up."

The teen was too sore to turn his head again to see the source of the voice, but it didn't matter. He immediately recognized it anyways. "Sup."

"At least look at me when you say that." The voice sounded rather peeved.

Ichigo tried to chuckle knowing the tone wasn't serious, but his muscles were still aching too much for him to fully do so. "Sorry. Too tired to move anything right now."

Appearing in his field of vision was the infamous Kukaku hovering over him in a rather distraction manner where her breast took up most of his field of vision. A small blush grew on his face as he forced his eyes away. "Can you maybe position yourself in a way that's a little less distracting

Kukaku chuckled at the boy's request, "What's the matter? Too much woman for you to handle?"

Ichigo felt a rise of temperature in his cheeks. Let's just say it was a good thing he was wearing baggy pants right now.

She laughed at his obvious discomfort. "You need to loosen up there strawberry. People are gonna start thinking you're a virgin." Ichigo made a frustrated look towards that remark, but still kept his eyes away from the Shiba leader. "Here, I'll get into a position that will be much more comfortable for the both of us."

She reached down and gently lifted the teen's head. She then lowered herself to her knees, placing them right under Ichigo's lifted head before placing it down on her thighs. She then began petting the top of his head in a caring fashion to calm his rapidly beating heart.

"There. Better?"

Ichigo looked up barely being able to see the top of the woman's head from her underboob. He wasn't sure what to make of the situation. It was better in that he couldn't see down her very apparent cleavage anymore, but at the same time it was worse in that her underboobs were basically all he could see at this point.

"Sure," he said unsurely.

The two rested in silence as Kukaku gently stroke her fingers through Ichigo's messy hair, still a bit dry from all the sweat he had accumulated in his fights. "So I heard you did something stupid," she said once the two were a bit more relaxed.

"Can you blame me?" he smirked. "Saving people's asses is kind of my thing."

The squad four member whom Ichigo had sent to get some water had arrived at that moment with a small glass three quarters filled with water. "Here you go sir," he said politely with a gracious bow.

"Oh uh, thanks," replied Ichigo. He made an attempt to reach for the glass, but was quickly reminded once again that he was still too exhausted to move. "Hey, um, do you think you could, uh, pour it into my mouth. I'm kinda too tired to move right now."

"O-Okay," spoke the unnamed soul reaper as he got down on his knees.

"I got his head," Kukaku said as she tilted the teen's head up so that he wouldn't drown himself.

Ichigo drank all of it rather quickly before the soul reaper parted the cup from his lips. It was quite refreshing to have some cool liquids in his body after everything he had just been through.

"I want to thank you, Ryoka," the soul reaper suddenly mentioned. "I'm sure you've already heard this a lot but, you've done so much for us even after everything we've put you through." He looked down at his knees with a clenched fist. "Thank you so much. I can't show enough gratitude towards what you've done."

"Don't worry about it!" Ichigo said trying to wave off the compliments. "You were just doing what you thought was right at the time. You don't have to apologize for doing your job."

A pout developed on the squad four member's face. "I know but still…"

"Hey!" said Ichigo, this time with a bit more force in his voice immediately snapping the person to attention. "It's all good. Thank you for your services."

At first, his face still showed uncertainty towards the teen's behavior. However, soon that uncertainty turned into a grateful smile. "Thank you for everything," he bowed before standing up and rushing over to help some of the other injured.

"My hero," Kukaku playfully said before she noogied the sides of Ichigo's head.

"Ow ow ow!" Ichigo hissed in pain as his body tightened to the pain. "Why would you do that?! Do you know how much that hurt?!"

"Oh, quit being such a baby," she laughed hysterically.

Ichigo growled at the Shiba, but his voice was drowned out by her laughter. It took a few more seconds of laughing before a long pause between the two occurred as they stared distantly in different in front of them. It was rather odd for the both of them. Despite knowing each other for only a few short days, here they were, acting as if they were siblings. It was an odd feeling for both of them, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"So this is what the infamous lap pillow feels like," Ichigo suddenly said causing Kukaku to raise an eyebrow. "It's quite nice actually. You have a nice lap."

"Oh my, I see that you're more of a pervert than what I took you for," the woman snickered.

"Can you don't?" Ichigo snapped back with an annoyed look. "Sheesh, why do you always have to take things the wrong way."

The two fell into a peaceful silent again as they stared off into the sunset.

"You know Ichigo, all joking aside. You remind me a lot of my older brother," Kukaku said with a sad smile on her face.

"Oh yeah? Must have been a pretty great guy," Ichigo declared in an act of cockiness.

Kukaku gave a small giggle, "Yeah… He was. It's really weird for me too, because he looked almost exactly like you, but with black hair and a way better body. Normally he'd be the one pampering me, but here I am, giving a lap pillow to a person who is almost an exact reflection of his image in every possible way. For me to be like the older sibling in this scenario is a bit strange for me."

"Is he still around?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.

"No," she said with a saddened expression. "He is gone."

Ichigo fell silent to the mournful words of the Shiba. He knew all too well what it was like to lose a loved one. "You want to talk about it?"

"No," her voice sounding distant. "No, not really." There was a long pause between her words as she unconsciously began to brush her hand through Ichigo's hair once more. "It's getting quite late, don't you think? I'll take you back to the house where you can have nice bed to sleep one. I don't think you'll particularly enjoy sleeping on the ground for the rest of the night. It could get cold."

Only just noticing how late it was getting, the wave of fatigue suddenly washed over him as his body became to tired to move, not that he could before. "Hey, um, do you think you could carry me there? I still can't exactly move."

"Aw, what's the matter? Little hero all tired out?" she spoke as if she were talking to a toddler.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Very funny, now can you help me out?"

Obliging to Ichigo's request, she pushed Ichigo's body into an upright, seated position. She stood up and walked around the teen, keeping his head up before squatting down in front of him. She then placed his hands on her shoulder before wrapping her arms underneath his thighs. As if he was as light as Styrofoam, she lifted Ichigo's limp body and carried him like a backpack.

Once Ichigo felt secured on the woman's back, he began to relax. That was his first mistake. Kukaku's grip suddenly loosened as she dropped down quickly to give the false impression that she was going to drop Ichigo. Him being as tired as he was, he had a minor heart attack as he felt himself fall for a split second before realizing it was all just a prank.

"You're such an asshole!" he said in a tired yell. The woman only snickered at his complaints before she began her descent down the hill.

The two walked without a word as Kukaku caringly held Ichigo in place to make sure he didn't actually fall. They let the moment sink in, both of them have a clear conscious. There was no more fighting, no more risks that needed to be taken, and for the most part, no reason to worry about anything. Just a calm and relaxing walk down a hill.

"Kukaku," the carrot top spoke, catching the attention of his escort.

"Hmm?"

"I think you're a great older sister." The older woman almost fell over from the suddenness of the compliment. She wanted to say something, but for the first time in a long time, she had found herself speechless. "Ganju must be very happy to have someone like you."

Ichigo's eyes suddenly became very heavy as it became more difficult to keep himself awake. After fighting a losing battle with fatigue, he finally dozed off with his head resting on Kukaku's shoulder. He wasn't able to see it, but the woman's face had been lit up like a Christmas tree. Her smile was incredibly bright, and her eyes were practically gleaming with joy. In all her life of bossing around people and gaining a following, she had never received such a direct praise to her efforts. Not even by Ganju.

To finally hear someone saying that she was a great older sister was like a dream come true to her and she never even knew it. She didn't even know she wanted it in the first place. She was practically (internally) squealing with joy. But she had an image to uphold so she didn't let anything else other than a look out.

"Thank you, Ichigo," she said knowing that her words would fall silent to the boy's ears, "And he better be happy."

It took quite a while for them to get back to the Shiba household and Ichigo was out cold. Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko both greeted her at the front gate, but asked curiously was to why she was carrying the Ryoka.

"Our little buddy here is tuckered out and needs a place to sleep," she said as she looked over her shoulder to see the resting teen on her back.

"I see," said Koganehiko, "Shall we get him a futon to rest on?"

"No," their leader said with a pleased smile on her face, "That won't be necessary."

The twins gave a confused look as the one armed woman walked past them with an unusual look on her face. The two looked at each other both trying to figure out why their leader was in such a good mood, but just shrugged their shoulders deciding that it was probably best that they didn't intrude on her privacy.

It didn't take long before Kukaku arrived at her resting quarters. She opened the wooden slide doors to reveal a rather simple room with only a bed and a small shrine on the other end of her room. The woman walked over to the bed and gently removed Ichigo from her shoulders and held him in the infamous bridal style position.

She gave a long look to the teen's resting face with an unreadable look gracing her face. That was until it turned into a twisted, devilish smile. The black haired woman then tossed the poor boy into the air, and made him land straight onto the bed's cushions.

This, of course, awoke the Ichigo from his slumber as he freefell into the bed. Almost immediately, he shot up in a fit of anger and started yelling at the Shiba.

"What the hell!" he shouted before he was brutally reminded of the soreness in his muscles. "Ah Fuck!" He then collapsed back into the bed with a pissed off look on his face.

"Man Ichigo, you're just too easy. Just how did you survive three days with Yoruichi?"

Ichigo grumbled, "I'd rather not talk about it."

It didn't take long for him to notice that he was now under a roof and in an unfamiliar location. He looked from the corner of his eye to see that he was resting in a plain bed. Something he hadn't done since the time he had broken into the Seireitei. It felt nice. It felt like he was back home again.

"Thanks," he said as he made himself comfortable.

Kukaku chuckled at his appreciation, "No problem." She then sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Ichigo fall back asleep again. She watched and waited for a little while, much like how a mother would with their sleeping child.

"Hey Ichigo," she said a bit hesitantly. She heard a tired hum come from the carrot top. "This may be a strange request but… do you think I could sleep with you?"

Ichigo, being too tired to think the situation through, and frankly not wanting to think at all just made a noise as if to say that whatever it was she was asking about was okay.

Kukaku's face lit up a little bit as she removed her mechanical arm, lifted the covers up, and slid herself into bed. Ichigo, meanwhile, remained relatively unfazed by this action. The bed itself was relatively sizable leaving a bit of room for the two to respect each other's personal space.

But Kukaku didn't really want there to be space between the two. She wiggled closer to the resting hybrid and wrapped her lone arm around him and pulled herself closer. It was then when she realized that she was taller than him. Albeit just by a few centimeters, but still, she was taller.

The feeling was still all too bizarre for her, taking care of a carbon copy of her older brother as if she were the older sister. There was just something strange about it to her. But all those feelings soon disappeared as she heard the soft breathing of Ichigo in his peaceful state of rest. Her grip tightened slightly around the boy, but in a caring fashion.

"Thank you," she said as she too fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **One Week Later:**

"I'm telling you, you need to get more meat on those bones. That's all I'm trying to say," Ichigo said to Hanatarou. This caused a sweat drop to appear on the soul reaper's head.

"But I've… I've already told you that I don't like to fight," Hanatarou replied hesitantly.

"I get that, but aren't you tired of having those squad eleven members boss you around all the time? Maybe if you get more muscular yourself up and look more intimidating, they will stop bothering you."

"B-But, if I become intimidating, wouldn't that make the people I help feel… uncomfortable? I mean, you wouldn't want someone like Kenpachi tending your wounds"

Ichigo thought about this remark for a second as he imagined himself being taken care of a person who looked like Kenpachi. A shiver traveled down his spine at the idea of the psychopath's sinister grin peering down on him as he laid in bed, covered in bandages. That was quite an image put in his head. "I think I see your point."

After they came to an agreement, a head suddenly poked around the corner. "Ah Ichigo, there you are. I've been looking for you."

"Oh, Isane! How are you doing?"

The gray haired woman gave a sheepish giggle as she place her hand on the back of her head before giving a polite bow. "I'm doing much better now. Thank you for your concern. Who did you come to visit this time?" she asked curiously.

"I came to check up on Renji, he seems to be fully healed now. He's now with Byakuya, keeping a watch over him."

"I see."

"Alright, I guess I'll get going. See yah Hanatarou," Ichigo waved as he walked off towards the exit. He then suddenly stopped in his tracks as he reached for the door. "Hey, Isane." He sounded rather distant. "I know I've said this a few too many times but… I'm sorry for what I did to you."

Isane, feeling overwhelmed by the abundant number of apologies she's received over the past week, waved her hands frantically in embarrassment. "No, no, you don't have to keep apologizing to me. You had no control of the situation, and you did what had to be done."

"I know, but still…"

He felt a soft hand grab his wrist. It was gentle but had a firmness that he knew was meant for reassurance. "Ichigo, please… don't beat yourself up over something like that. You did what you could, and we're all alive because of it. If anything, I should be the one thanking you for everything that you've done."

The teen gave a sad look before a half-hearted smile stretched across his face at the attempt to try and brighten the mood. Giving a nod of understanding, Isane let go of his wrist, allowing him to leave.

"See you guys!" he called out before opening the shoji. "Hopefully you'll come to visit us sometime!" With that he disappeared behind a closed door.

With his large, holed Khyber sword on his back and his body now fully recovered, he decided to go for a quick walk. And a quick walk was what he got as he had only gotten outside Squad 4's perimeter before Orihime suddenly appeared out of nowhere, screaming his name.

"Kurosaki," she said breathlessly as she tried to catch her breath from all her running.

"What? What's wrong?" Ichigo said, a bit anxious in seeing the state that his friend was in.

"It's Rukia, I she's gone missing!"

Ichigo stared blankly the moment he received the information. He looked to be deep in thought.

…

…

"Kurosaki, are you alright?" ask his classmate, confused by his reaction.

Suddenly, a smirk inched across his face. "I think she's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"…O-oh… I see," Orihime said, still feeling a bit confused over the whole ordeal. Seeing the obvious expression on the girl's face, Ichigo placed his hand on her head to ruffle her hair. "Look at you, being all caring and stuff."

All prior thoughts in Inoue's head quickly disappeared to be replaced with happiness as she reverted back to her normal, bubbly state. She liked the feeling of Ichigo's hand on her head. It gave her a sense of compassion she had missed when her brother had died. It felt warm, like a blanket comfortably wrapping itself around her soul. She couldn't help but let out a goofy smile.

"Hey Orihime," Ichigo said, breaking her out of her trance. "I'm going up to the hill to talk with Soukyoku. I promised her that I'd talk with her before we leave."

"Soukyoku?" she asked with a curious head tilt.

Ichigo smiled. "Yeah, that halberd that was supposed to kill Rukia."

The happiness in her expression vanished as quicker than it came; the thought's of Rukia's near death experience weighing heavily on her being. "E-eh?" she said confused yet again.

"You wanna come with? I don't know how fun it will be, but a promise is a promise. Plus, she doesn't seem like the kind of person that likes them being broken."

"She?"

* * *

 **One Long Hike Up a Hill Later:**

"Well, this is… unexpected." Both teenagers were having some trouble beholding the sight in front of them. Apparently, the Soukyoku didn't want to be sealed until she saw Ichigo one more time, burning everyone who got near her. But that wasn't the thing that the two were bewildered by that. No, the thing that really caught them off guard was the size of said creature currently was. As opposed to its normal building sized form, it took a much smaller appearance similar to that of a falcon's.

Upon hearing the two's footsteps, it looked up to see who it was approaching her this time. She almost immediately recognized the face of the hybrid teen as the flaming phoenix lifted itself off the ground and charged at Ichigo. Once she came into range of him, she began pecking at him in an irritated fashion.

"Ow! Ow! What the hel-ow!" Ichigo said in distress. Despite being as powerful as he was, it still didn't take away the fact on how powerful the Soukyoku was as well. "Stop that!" he shouted as he quickly snatched the bird by the talon.

The bird screeched, unfazed by her position, but still held a rather annoyed look.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It took me three days for me to fully recover my strength and I had a lot of other people to visit as well. I didn't forget you I swear."

Soukyoku let out an angry grumble before giving him one last peck on the head.

"Okay, that one I didn't deserve," Ichigo jokingly chuckled as it landed on his shoulder.

Orihime, on the other hand, was having the weirdest day. First, she finds out that Uryu could sew, then she finds Rukia had gone missing, and now she was watching her classmate was talking to a bird. Yup, this day will certainly leave a mark on her.

She quickly snapped out of whatever trance she had found herself in by the cooing of pigeon. Only it wasn't a pigeon, it was the phoenix now nuzzling its head affectionately into Ichigo's cheek in an adorable fashion. Orihime was inquisitive of this as she watched oddly as the spirit had immediately began bonding with Ichigo.

"Alright alright, but I can't stay here forever," Ichigo said in an apprehensive tone. "I have a life outside of being a part time Soul Reaper, so I got to go back sometime soon."

The phoenix looked up at him with an estranged look on its face before letting out an adorable chirp. The two of them looked back at the building sized weapon, that rested behind the group. "Yeah, I don't think I can do that." The animal let out yet another annoyed grumble.

"Ichigo," chimed in Orihime, a bit lost in the conversation. "What did she say?"

"She wants to come back with us to the World of the Living," he explained. "But I don't think that's possible. I'm strong in Reishi, but…" he looked back at the halberd once again, "I think it's a bit too hefty of a task."

"Yeah… probably."

The bird had been saddened by this as it drooped its head in a disappointed murmur. Seeing the animal's distraught, Orihime took it upon herself to try and cheer up the creature. She reached over to try and pet the creature in order to comfort it. "It's okay, I'm sure we can-Ah!" she yelped in surprise as the spirit suddenly snapped at her hand, leaving a bleeding scar on the top of it.

"Hey!" shouted Ichigo with authority. The phoenix cowered in fear and surprise at the sudden action. With a quick swipe of hand, he smacked the bird on the top of its head, causing it to squawk in surprise.

"Ichigo!" yelled Orihime, taken aback by his sudden action. She knew he was very defensive of his friends, but she didn't need any more unnecessary violence at the moment.

"Now apologize to her," the hybrid demanded the phoenix. The bird hung its head in both slight pain, and shame at its denouncement. The majestic creature then spread its wings to an impressive length for its size and flapped over from Ichigo's shoulder to Orihime's.

The girl was a bit shocked at the bird's quick action as a swirl of emotion overcame her thought process. The bird made a motion with its head towards Orihime. She looked up at Ichigo to explain what the spirit wanted.

"She's telling you to stick your hand out again," he smiled. Orihime looked at the bird with hesitation in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that she doesn't hurt you again." He gave the flaming bird a look that can only be described as firm as his kind smile quickly disappeared behind his all too familiar scowl.

Cautiously, Orihime complied as she stuck her hand out ever so slowly until it was in the bird's reach. With a low, chicken-like grumbling, Soukyoku extended its neck so that Orihime's hand was just below her head. From her eyes, a small drop of water began to form from underneath. Once it had gathered enough volume, it dribbled down the cheek of the phoenix completely unaffected by the fire that surrounded it. Reaching the edge, the teardrop fell like a burning ember atop of the high school girl's hand.

Originally, nothing had happened. There was no feeling of pain, nor was the sensation one would feel when exposed to a fire. But soon, Orihime felt a tingling in her hand. The feeling was warm, comforting, like it was meant to give some sort of pleasant feeling to make up for the stinging from before. She looked at her hand with captivation. The wound was healing, and at a rapid pace too. Soon, it had vanished, like it was never even there. But the warmth was still there to comfort her.

Orihime looked down at the phoenix in fascination. The only thing that was running through her mind in that moment was utter amazement. She reached out once again to pat the bird on the head, though with more caution this time.

The bird looked up at the girl with an unreadable expression in its eyes. Orihime just smiled. "May I?" she asked politely.

The creature stared at the hand for a good few seconds, clearly thinking deeply about something. Finally, it made its decision. The Soukyoku pushed its head into the girl's hand and began to nuzzle into it. The bird's flames didn't burn her. In fact, they gave off the same feeling of cozy warmth as the tear that healed her hand did.

"I can see you two are getting along quite well," Ichigo said with a bright grin.

Orihime had almost completely forgotten about his presence. She looked up with a blushing smile as she continued to gently stroke the bird's feathers. "Yeah, I guess I just surprised her a little bit."

The three sat and relaxed for the rest of the day for tomorrow would be the last time (possible) they see this place. This happened all the while a certain black haired Captain of stealth watched over them curiously.

* * *

 **The Next Day:**

"So, you decided to stay, huh?" said the carrot top with an empty hand on his hip.

"Yes, as much as I enjoy your company, I have to stay here for reason I'm sure you understand," Rukia said as she bowed politely to her departing friends.

"Yeah, I get it. Sleeping in a closet must not have been the greatest experience you've ever had," he waved off.

She chuckled. "You know that's not what I mean."

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Orihime rushed up to Rukia with a beaming smile on her face as she suddenly shoved a well-made blue dress into the soul reaper's hands. "Ishida made this for you, isn't it cute! Be sure to take good care of yourself!"

"O-Okay," Rukia replied, a bit stunned by the gift.

"Ichigo!" The orange haired teen perked up at his name as he looked to see who had called him. Approaching him was the sickly white hair Captain, Ukitake with a peculiarly chiseled piece of wood in hand.

"What is it?"

"I want to give this to you." Upon closer inspection, the carved piece of wood had an odd-looking skull engraved right in the middle of it. "This is called a Substitute Soul Badge. It will allow you to free your soul reaper form from your physical body."

"Badass," Ichigo said without much thought before putting it in his pocket. He then turned to Rukia one more time. "See ya," he smiled.

"Goodbye, Ichigo." And with that they went through the giant gate.

Everyone watching waved and said their goodbyes as their figures vanished through the portal.

"What nice kids," smiled the white haired Captain.

"Captain Ukitake!" shouted a soul reaper from behind him in a panicking manner.

"What is it?" Judging by the looks on both of their faces, something had happened, and it wasn't anything good.

* * *

 **Senkaimon:**

On the other side, they found themselves in a rather familiar place. It didn't look like what the group was expecting. The walls around them were shrouded in purple smoke and the ground beneath them was granite-like. It was only when the walls of purple smoke began closing in on them that they soon realized where they were.

"Fuck."

The group immediately made a run for the exit as the walls quickly grew closer and closer together.

"Why the hell are we back here again?!" Ichigo shouted in a mix of confusion and frustration. "Didn't we go through the official gate?"

"Unless you are led by a Hell Butterfly on a one on one basis, you can't use the official route!" yelled Yoruichi as she ran in front of everyone else. "And only a Soul Reaper can control a Hell Moth. Just be thankful that the Kototsu isn't here!"

"Don't jinx it!" pleaded the orange haired.

"Look the entrance is right there. Everybody, get ready to jump!" Yoruichi cried, completely ignoring Ichigo's comment.

"What, why?!" yelled Uryu.

It was too late to answer; they had reached the end of the tunnel. For a moment they couldn't feel the ground beneath their feet. It was only when they looked down that they noticed that there was no ground beneath their feet, but that they were practically suspended in mid-air.

"…"

"…"

"Well shit."

In the typical cartoon fashion, once all of them acknowledged the fact that they were about to fall, they began to rapidly spiral towards the ground, just like they had the first time. This time however, with a bit of quick thinking, Ichigo was able to use the Reishi in the air to launch himself towards the rest of his descending friends. He wrapped his right arm around Chad's waist and his other arm around both Uryu and Orihime's.

Once he felt like he got a good grip on all of them, he gathered the Reishi around his feet and used it to slow down his fall. Unfortunately, because of the panicking nature of the situation, he applied more than what was necessary and came to a sudden halt which hurt the people Ichigo was carrying a considerable amount.

"You guys okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Looking at their faces, they seemed to have been on the verge of throwing up their guts from the sudden pressure on their stomachs.

"Sorry about that," he said guiltily.

Uryu looked up groggily with a shadow of misery plastered on his face. "Please do a little better on the stopping part. I think I'm going to throw up or pass out before I even do that."

Ichigo did his best to gently set his friends down as they struggled to regain their balance from whiplash. Despite the pain, everyone was happy that they made it back in one piece.

"You're so mean Ichigo," said Yoruichi as she approached the group from God knows where. "You didn't even bother to catch me."

"Oh… Didn't see you," he said with a deadpan expression.

"O-Oh…" said the cat, slightly disappointment as she had hoped for at least a 'shut up' or something.

Ichigo looked around for a second. "Well, I'm going back home. Hopefully Kon didn't do anything weird with my body while we were gone, for my sake, and for his," Ichigo said ominously as he cracked his knuckles causing a sweat drop to appear on everyone's heads.

"I think we should all start heading home," suggested Uryu which everyone promptly agreed with a nod of their heads. With that, everyone went their separate ways back to their homes.

As the orange haired teen made his way to his house, Yoruichi decided to follow him.

"Hey Ichigo," said the black cat in a teasing tone of voice.

The boy looked around to see where the voice had come from only to see the source standing top of the stone wall beside him. "Oh, what's up Yoruichi?"

"Nothing, just wanted to walk home with you," she said unsuspectingly.

"Okay," Ichigo said a bit skeptical of the feline's words, but decided not to question her further.

They walked in silence for a little bit, neither of them breaking the silence.

Ichigo was unsure of what to do. The silence between them was beginning to feel awkward for him, but he couldn't come up with a good way to start a conversation. Plus, what did Yoruichi want anyways? Couldn't she have just gone back to Kisuke's place and relax? Ichigo thought about it silently. He only had some idea of what it may have been, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Yoruichi was enjoying every second of it. After several days of not being able to see her favorite student, she was glad to finally be able to be in his company. Whether he decided to talk to her or not didn't matter to her. She looked at Ichigo, seeing the obvious nervousness of the boy. The werecat could tell Ichigo was trying to think of something to break the silence. One of the many things she found adorable about the boy.

Though she did want to transform into her human form and snuggle against Ichigo's arm, she didn't want to appear naked in a public setting despite her boldness. Oh well, guess she just had to settle with what she got.

"Hey Ichigo," she said finally breaking the tension.

"Hmm?"

Without even the slightest hesitation, Yoruichi decided to say it flat out. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Ichigo became so shocked form hearing this that he tripped over his own foot and practically faceplant into the asphalt. He immediately picked himself back up and looked at the cat with a completely flustered face. "C-Could you repeat that? I think I might have misheard you."

"Do you want to go out on a date with me?" she repeated. "It's not that hard to understand."

Ichigo turned away, the blush still apparent on his face. "So I was right," he said aloud, but quietly to himself.

"Right about what?" the feline asked teasingly.

Ichigo just waved his hands in front of himself in denial. "No, no, no. Just forget that I said anything."

Yoruichi let out a huff. "So is that a yes, or a no?"

A suspicious look appeared on the carrot top's expression once again. "Where is this coming from?"

Yoruichi did the closest thing to a shrug a cat could do. "Nowhere in particular, just want to hang out with you for a bit."

An eyebrow rose. "But why?"

Yoruichi just sighed. She knew that Ichigo always wanted a straight answer. If she were to beat around the bush, she wouldn't get very far. Why did Ichigo have to be so dense?

"I'm interested in you." she said flat out without any hesitation. She didn't necessarily shout it, but it wasn't in her indoor voice either. Her words were very firm, to say the least.

The teen, for the most part, was having a lot of trouble trying to understand the words coming out of his teacher's mouth. "Like, as in liking me kind of interested?"

"Geez, what are you seven? Yes! I like you. Now stop making this so awkward."

A very apparent blush appeared on Ichigo's face. He tried to cover it with his elbow, but the werecat had already spotted it. "Aw, you're so cute when you're flustered," she said like one would to a toddler.

"S-Shut up!" he said turning around. "I'm going home!"

"Weren't you already doing that?"

"Shut up!"

"You already said that," she said with a teasing smile.

Ichigo opened his mouth, about to retort but was suddenly cut short a powerful pulse emanated from his body. He suddenly collapsed to on knee as an odd sensation started to fill his entire body. His head began to spin, and his heart rate was skyrocketing. He lifted his hand to his head to try and stabilize himself, but it was to no avail.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Yoruichi asked, a bit confused by the sudden silence.

"Yeah, I just… I just need to… to…"

His muscles suddenly trembled from keeping his own body weight up, and then suddenly it became impossible to breathe. He collapsed to the concrete with a quiet thud as he choked on nothing.

"Ichigo!" This time Yoruichi shouted in a panic as she rushed over to his side.

The teen tried to come out with something as a response, anything other than the sounds of gasps for air, but he was unable to do so. It didn't feel like he was being strangled, it felt more like something internal, like something was physically gripping his lungs. His eyes were starting to tear up, and his vision was becoming blurry. He kicked and even tried to scream, but still, nothing came out. Nothing he had ever experienced prior could ever compare to the physical pain he was feeling. He felt his eyes roll behind his open eyelids, and before he knew it everything turned black.

Yoruichi watched in absolute horror as her student's body suddenly went limp. "Ichigo!" she yelled as she tried to wake the boy back up. Sensing the immediate emergency of the situation, she transformed into her human form, uncaring of her lack of clothes. She pressed her ear against Ichigo's chest to hear if there was still a pulse.

She had to wait for a few seconds to settle herself down so that her own racing heartbeat wouldn't get in the way. The wait seemed like an eternity for her as she listened closely. She practically held her breath just to make sure that everything was completely silent.

…

…

 _Ba-Thump_

…

 _Ba-Thump_

Yoruichi let out a sigh of relief. He was still alive and from the rising and falling of his chest, he was able to breathe again. She picked up the unconscious body and held it close to her. For a brief moment, she honestly believed that she had lost her disciple. She then lifted his feet and carried him bridal style to the first place that came to mind.

Kisuke.

* * *

 **Somewhere Else:**

Ichigo found himself in a place he was all too familiar with. The sideways skyscrapers, the clear blue sky, all things he was too familiar with. "Zangetsu!" he called out, "Where are you?!"

There was no response. This greatly unsettled Ichigo. He was never brought to this place without a purpose. Every time he'd been here there had been something important that his pale white doupleganger would inform him of. "Zangetsu, come out already! You're not scaring anyone!"

"Zangetsu is no more," boomed a low, growly voice.

The teen searched around the empty space in search of where it had come from. "That voice," Ichigo thought. "Where have I heard this voice before?"

"Oh? So you remember," the voice said inquisitively.

"Who are you? Where is Zangetsu?" demanded the teen.

A soft chuckle echoed though the realm that was Ichigo's mindscape. It was then when Ichigo could feel a presence appear behind him. Almost immediately after he did this, his eyes widened not just out of surprise, but out of horror. There stood a tall, lean man who was almost as pale as Zangetsu. He had a scruffy beard and long, unruly brown hair with every article of clothing he wore being black white the only exception being the torn white collar round his neck.

Beside him was a bruised and bleeding Zangetsu who hung unconscious in the man's clenched hand. Ichigo's eyes narrowed in anger and fear as he grit his teeth with great force. "What have you done to Zangetsu?"

"He is not who you think he is." He looked down at the pathetic body that hung from his grasp. "He's been toying with you. Making you submit to his every word so that he can have full control over you."

Ichigo could feel his grip tighten in his fists. "What do you mean?"

The thin man looked back at the boy standing before him as he place his hand on his chest. "I am the true Zangetsu. This thing that you once called your Zanpakuto is nothing more than a Hollow trying to take over your soul. I am the source of your power. I am the one who will protect you."

To say Ichigo was shocked would be an understatement. A dead look clouded his eyes as he heard the man's words. He looked down with the plethora of emotions running rampant in his head. The sky over head started to turn gray as clouds overcast the once blue atmosphere.

The man frowned at this sudden happening. He expected the rain was to fall at any second. This was to be expected.

"All this time… he was using me?" the teen spoke, almost in a chuckle still thinking that this was all some sick joke.

"That is correct."

"And you," he looked up at the thin framed man with anguish, then to the hanging body of the white Hollow he once knew as Zangetsu. "You claim yourself to be the real Zangetsu, and this to be the faker?"

"Indeed," the man said, trying to comfort the boy in some way.

"After everything we've been through. After every battle, every scar, every near-death experience. All of that, just to control my body? Was everything an act! Was it all just to make me fall under your lies! You gave me this power! You made me stronger than I could have ever been, and you were just going to throw it all away!"

The supposed "True Zangetsu" fell silent to his user's words.

All these emotions that had swelled up inside him. He could feel himself plunging into despair. An old friend of his he hadn't seen since the death of his mother. Ichigo would have fallen into this pit, until the point of no return had it not been for one simple thing.

"Cut your bullshit," the teen said in a deathly low voice.

A sudden flare of reiatsu began emanating from where Ichigo stood. It encircled him like an enraged flame sprouting the colors of red and black. The air became very dense for the pressure that he was exuding. "I'm not some fucking idiot who's going to believe every word you say. Him being a Hollow doesn't mean shit to me." He tried to summon his Zanpakuto to his hand, but nothing appeared.

"I've sealed off your passage to use your Zanpakuto. You cannot bring out Zangetsu while I've sealed him off."

"If that's the case," Ichigo said gritting his teeth, "I'll beat the living shit out of you with my bare hands!"

Gathered an astonishing amount of reiatsu beneath his feet, and charged straight towards the old man without any signs of fear. In the blink of an eye he appeared right before the old man with his fist wound up and filled with reiatsu enforcement. The burning in Ichigo's eyes was immense. "Zangetsu's" eyes widened slightly. He was impressed by the speed, to say the least, but he wasn't surprised.

Ichigo uncoiled his full-frontal assault on the man, practically breaking the sound barrier as he unleashed his punch. In less than a fraction of a second, Ichigo threw his punch sending a massive shockwave that rattled all the windows of the nearby buildings. The two figures stood unmoving. The silence between them was almost deafening.

Blood soon dripped from where the two stood. Had it been anyone else, Ichigo's attack would have sent them flying to high heaven or would have completely blown their head clean off. Unfortunately, the old man was an opponent unlike any other. The blood that trickled was no other than Ichigo's.

The teen looked down to see a trench blade as black as his own Zanpakuto lodged deep into his chest. He could taste the blood beginning to swell up in his mouth before it leaked from the corners of his mouth.

"Zangetsu", with an expression cold as ice, pulled the blade out of the teen's rib cage. "It's time for you to wake up," he said, void of all emotions.

Ichigo staggered a little bit as he felt himself teetering over. The older man thought that the boy was about to fall to the ground, but he never did. In fact, albeit very weakly, his trembling legs still managed to keep him up right. The boy's breaths were deep and agitated. His body was slowly turning to dust, disappearing from the realm he was in.

Much to his surprise, the teen stepped forward and gripped the collar of the man's overcoat. Ichigo's amber eyes stared intensely into the thin man's with insatiable flames in his eyes. Most of his body had already disappeared already except his upper right body. "This isn't over, you bastard," he said rather quietly, but with enough force to get his message across. "I will be back, and I will defeat you."

Those were his final words before he vanished entirely from his mindscape. Yhwach stared at the sky once more. The dark clouds still hung overhead, but not a single drop of rain fell from them. He then heard a very weak laugh coming from the nearly lifeless body hanging next to him.

The man's eyes widened in slight fear as he looked down at the pale body. "Well well well, looks like you were wrong about him," it said quietly. "I must say, you put up a rather convincing act, but it seems that my wielder is exact as he should be. King." The body's head turned to give a sinister grin to the old man, "Did you honestly think you could stop the inevitable?"

"How are you still conscious?"

The form dissipated from his grip leaving the man confused and on edge. In a quick maneuver, he narrowly dodged a strike from the back as a katana stabbed through his cape-like overcoat, missing him by two inches. The old man jumped back and landed forty feet from where he once stood.

"How did you regain your form?" the man more or less demanded.

Zangetsu chuckled. "To be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea myself. I just suddenly feel reenergized. Like I could take over the world." He then pointed the end of his bone white blade towards his opponent. "Now, let's try this again."

* * *

 **World of the Living:**

"Neh." Ichigo's eyes shot open almost immediately after his encounter. He laid there in a cold sweat, unsure of what to do next. He then lifted his arm towards the ceiling, perpendicular to his body and slammed it against the wooden floor.

"Fuck."

Quickly realizing the roof above him wasn't his own, he lifted his head to look around at his surroundings. He soon realized where he was. He tried lifting himself up, only to find his body restrained by some kind of Kido or Hado, or whatever it was called, he didn't really care.

"Hey!" he called out, "Kisuke!"

…

"Yoruichi!"

…

"Anyone!"

…

"Ururu?"

The shoji to enter into the room slid open to reveal the scraggly middle aged man rubbing the top of his head. "Loud as always I see," he said as he closed the door behind him.

"Mind explaining why I can't move?"

The typical goofy smile appeared on the shopkeeper's face. "Why, it's for a gameshow of course!"

"Nani?"

"That's right, I've managed to sign you up for one of those gameshows in Tokyo!" He looked at his empty wrist as if to check the time. "The bus should be coming any minute now."

"Cut the crap Kisuke!"

The man's smile quickly disappeared to be replaced with what could have been described as a frown. "You want the actual explanation? Fine. The reason for the restraints is so that when you woke up, you wouldn't escape."

Ichigo's eyebrow raised in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"For some reason, every human has disappeared on the face of the Earth and a sudden increase in the Vasto Lorde population has increased to an unprecedented number."

"Vasto what now?"

"Vasto Lorde," Kisuke explained. "They are the final evolution of Hollows. It's rumored that they are so powerful that they could even match up to Soul Reapers at the rank of Captain, but I wouldn't know, I've never encountered them before. Originally, there were only a hand full that existed, enough to count on your one hand. But now, there's thousands of them."

The man then crouched down next to the teen with a wry smile. "The reason why you're restrained is because I believe that some people that existed in the world of the living had transformed into these Hollows, but that's more of a hypothesis than anything else. As for you, you're a special case. You're what's known as a Vizard: A Soul Reaper that can tap into the powers of a Hollow. There are more of you, of course, or at least were more of you. Their inner Hollows took control of their bodies and destroyed their memories, so now, they are nothing more than Hollows with a human body. Now the question remains. Are you really Ichigo?"

Kisuke stared intensely into Ichigo's eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. Occasionally, Ichigo's eyes would wander from the awkwardness only to see Kisuke staring at him with the same intensity, eyes practically unblinking. He began to feel his heart beat pump a more frantically by the moment as the thumping grew more violent. He even began to feel sweat role down his face.

"Um…" Ichigo said uneasily.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you. I know you're fine."

A mixture of confusion and a deadpan expression formed on Ichigo's face as the man beside him stood up and began walking towards the door. With a snap of his finger, the spell around him was gone, and he could once again move freely.

"H-How did you know I was myself?" the teen asked as he shook his arms to promote blood circulation.

The scruffy man gave him a smile. "It was obvious. You called out our names, didn't you?" He turned back leaving a rather relieved Ichigo. "However, I must say that that mask really did give me a scare. I like the new design of it thought."

Mask? Ichigo reached up to his face to feel a cold, smooth surface brush against his fingertip similar to touching a well crafted bone. He hadn't even felt it on his face. How did it get there?

"Weird."

* * *

 **Location: Unknown**

The sounds of nature echoed through the green of the forest. The tall trees reached high into the great blue above, the leaves a bright green to show their good health, and the birds chirping to give sound to what would have been empty silence.

In the distance, a small pond could be seen glistening light through the wilderness. The pond was no wider than ten meters wide with its lowest depth being less than one meter. Such a small and insignificant thing, yet could be the source of so much life. Plants, insects, mammals, it attracted everything. Where this body of water had come from was from was unknown. There were no nearby streams nor had there been a larger body of water. It never dried up, nor did its size ever increase, and it was perfectly circular. A bizarre phenomenon of nature to say the least.

The pond itself was quite a peculiar one at that. It was completely still, unmoving do any form of nature; wind, the falling of leaves, nothing seemed to be able to disturb it. Due to its stillness, the water reflected everything around it like a mirror. A near perfect replication of the sprawling life around it.

Truly a beautiful spectacle.

The water suddenly began to sink. Lower and lower it went without reason like it was being drained, but there was no signs of such anywhere. The once chirping birds suddenly came to deathly silence. All this was happening, but the water's reflective gaze at the sky remained unchanged from how it was in the beginning.

It wasn't long until the waterbed began to reveal itself. However, as opposed to the typical color of mud that would have been either a light or dark brown, the soil was a char black. The once beautiful and now nearly disappeared water had been a cover for such a sickening sight. It was all a ruse. An act to hide a stain of the earth, something hideous.

It all happened in mere moments. The water was now completely gone to reveal the blackened earth before the shining sun as if to insult the star's gift of light. In the very center, a crack took form. The part of the scorched earth would rise and fall in small increments, much like how a baby chick would when trying to exit its egg.

It took a while before a form finally broke free from the confinements of the terrain. It shape was similar to that of a reptile's claws. Long and slim tipped with sharp nails that could pierce through flesh. Its talons dug into the dirt to get a good grip.

A disturbed laugh soon came echoing out from the hole. The spawn of Hell had awakened…

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Wow… it's been a while hasn't it. I'm surprised that this story has made it to 400 hundred followers. In all honesty, I would have thought it would only make it to 200 max, not to mention the 300 favorites. I thought that the best this story would do is 100 or something along those lines. Thank you all so much for sticking around and bearing with my story. I promise you all, shits only barely just hit the fan.**

 **As for the half year hiatus, there are many reasons why I haven't posted a chapter in a long time. Mainly because of school work and partially because of the death of a family member. Because of the long wait, I wanted to make this story a better. For the course of the next few months, I'm going to be editing the chapters to make the characters more compelling, and improve the writing from what I've learned over the course of my break. As I reread my chapters, I noticed that the character are, to say the least, bland and not very interesting and are only there to admire the MC. I don't want that anymore.**

 **I know, that sounds hypocritical after a good chunk of the chapter was about admiring Ichigo, but I at least want to give them a legitimate reason, or some sort of character to them.**

 **Over the course of the hiatus, I've done a lot of research on how to design different characters and now I know how to make them less boring. Also, I know some of you guys/gals have completely forgotten what's going on in this story and I'm doing this as a refresher for myself as well.**

 **Oh yeah, I completely forgot to mention this but the new move that Ichigo used in the last chapter in the fight against Byakuya and Soi Fon translates to Moonlight's Destruction, just in case for those who have recently picked up on this story and don't know Japanese that well.**

 **P.S. On a completely unrelated note, who here is excited for the new Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie? I'm super hyped for that movie.**


End file.
